Chains of Blood
by Higuchimon
Summary: [indefinite hiatus: see profile for details] It's winter. A lot of people get gifts in winter. Ruki didn't expect her gift to be the fact she has a half-sister, let alone everything else that's going to happen. [6/8: Ruki genfic]
1. Chapter 1

**Series:** After Tamers||**Story:** Chains of Blood  
**Characters:** Ruki, Renamon, OC||**Ship:** Ruki x Renamon  
**Chapters:** 1-9||**Words:** 4,112||**Total Words:** 4,112  
**Genre:** Family||**Rated:** G  
**Challenges:** Diversity Writing Challenge, Digimon Tamers, L18, 3-5 fics; Hat Challenge: Makino Ruki, Sibling AU, Diablous ex Machina; Completionist Big Bang; Word Set Boot Camp, #35, 38,274; Chapter Set Boot Camp, #7, 9 chapters; Include The Word, #8, famous; Novella Masterclass, Tamers, #1, Canon Goodness; What-if: What if Ruki had a sibling or half-sibling?; Valentine's Day to White Day 2016, day #22, write about siblinghood  
**Notes:** I honestly originally intended to rewrite _Change_ for the Completionist Big Bang. But then a sudden spark for this roared into life out of nowhere and demanded that the story be told. The life of a writer, right? Well, here we go. This is about five years after the events of Tamers, all the Digimon are nicely returned, there is limited passage between the two worlds, and if a Digimon wants to stay in the human world, said Digimon needs to find a Tamer and let HYPNOs or the original Digimon Tamers know about them. That enough background? Let's go.  
**Summary:** It's winter. A lot of people get gifts in winter. Ruki didn't expect her gift to be the fact she has a half-sister, let alone everything else that's going to happen.

* * *

"You're warm," Ruki murmured, leaning her head against Renamon's fur. Her partner gave her an amused chuckle.

"You say that a lot."

"It's true," Ruki wasn't going to lie, not to Renamon. Not when Renamon's warmth kept the chill outside of the office at bay. Not when Ruki didn't want to go out there unless she absolutely had to.

She raised her head just enough to look out the window and then tucked herself back against Renamon. The snow hadn't stopped falling. It didn't look as if it would stop falling any time in the next few hours.

That would make getting back home a thorough pain, even more so than getting here had been. Renamon might help with that, though, and Ruki certainly wasn't going to turn down the chance of being enfolded in living, warm fox fur for long periods of time.

At least home would actually _be_ warm. The office heaters tried their best, but since no one knew when the door might open, the threat of a blast of cold air always hung over whoever had the unlucky job of being there during open hours.

She'd seen a few people walking through the snow and deemed each and every one of them blithering idiots in a single heartbeat. Why would anyone _want_ to be out there when they could be inside where it was warm and drinking hot drinks and _not_ being cold?

Ruki understood Renamon and Digimon in general far more than she did humans. Especially humans who liked the cold.

She wanted to be charitable – sort of. It wasn't that long until the holidays so maybe people were getting gifts. Of course they could have done that before the snow started to fall down so thickly…

"Ruki! Ruki!" Hirokazu all but slammed into the office door and stood there for a second before he thought to open it and dash inside. Ruki sighed.

"Close the door." She refused to let a single scrap of warmth evade her, even if Hirokazu found out the world was going to freeze to death in half an hour.

Hirokazu yanked it shut behind him, then hurried right over to her, eyes bright. Behind him, on the other side of the now closed door, she could see Guardromon lumbering along. He didn't do well in the snow and ice, so Ruki presumed that something actually worth knowing could be going on.

Maybe. Guardromon would follow Hirokazu every bit as loyally as Renamon followed her. If Hirokazu found out that one of his favorite restaurants had coupons available, he'd be rushing around just like this.

"What's going on?" Ruki wanted to get this over with. The office closed in another two hours and she refused to stay there more than she needed to, especially in this weather.

Hirokazu grinned fit to split his face apart. "You're not going to believe this. You are just _not_!"

That didn't do a great deal to get her interest. Ruki believed in a lot of things. She'd more or less had to, ever since Digimon became a permanent part of the world. "Really. What am I not going to believe?"

Hirokazu flopped himself on the desk and his grin actually somehow got bigger. "There's someone with a new Digimon coming. I saw them from upstairs."

Of course he had. Whenever a new Tamer showed up with their partner, they had to get registered. It wasn't a good idea to have random Digimon wandering around in the city – or anywhere else – without someone knowing who they were and what they were capable of. It had been referred to sometimes as a Tamer's license, though Ruki still hadn't decided if she liked that particular name for it.

"And?" What she couldn't believe was that someone wanted to get registered in this kind of weather. What sort of a Digimon would even want to be out like this?

She did her best not to think about a very specific Digimon that would have quite liked the temperatures. That had been very long ago and she didn't intend to bring it back up if she didn't have to.

"It's a _fire_ Digimon." Hirokazu flipped, knocking over some of the papers on the desk, to stare up at her. "Really. They're bringing a fire Digimon out like this."

Ruki closed her eyes for a few seconds. She wasn't sure which one irked her more, the chance of a fire Digimon being potentially extinguished in the snow and cold or the way Hirokazu thought this was something worth freaking out about.

"That's it?"

Hirokazu snorted, bouncing himself back up and going over to let Guardromon in, along with a blast of chill air. "You don't think that's something? They don't even have their partner wrapped up!"

Ruki still didn't think that it was the best thing to have fire Digimon – or any other Digimon – out in this weather, but Digimon also weren't like humans. They didn't always react the way that humans would. So maybe this new Tamer knew something that they didn't.

"Where did you see them?"

Hirokazu gestured towards the window, then jerked his arm upwards. "From up there. My office."

Of course. She could've guessed that even without him having said a thing. Hirokazu's office – which was a big word for a place just big enough for him and Guardromon to stare down at the city for those few hours a day they could be persuaded to do anything that wasn't actually going out and tracking down trouble, if not actually causing it themselves.

A lot of people grew up and matured in five years. Ruki presumed that one day Hirokazu would get around to it. If he didn't get distracted by something else along the way.

She glanced out her own window again, just in time to see a covered head coming along the pathway that would lead right to their door. It was easy to tell the proto-Tamers from the registered Tamers – a way that the shoulders were set, the way that eyes darted nervously about, and far more often the way that the newbie's eyes rested on their partner, as if not quite able to believe that this happened to them.

She knew how that felt. It took a while to wear off – however long it took to realize this just wasn't a talking plush doll but a living, breathing entity that was a _partner_.

And after that was when matters tended to get very difficult. Not every Tamer and Digimon could make it through and there were those who broke the partnership, the Digimon either finding someone more suitable or going back to the Digital World altogether.

"Go on, get out of here." Ruki gestured abruptly to Hirokazu. "They're going to come here, not to you." Hirokazu's job was to watch for newcomers and check them against the list of known teams. Ruki's job – at least today – was to register the newcomers and add them to the list.

Hirokazu grumbled a few words that Ruki couldn't exactly hear and wasn't really in the mood to have repeated. Her office was on the ground floor, not that far from the entryway, so the new arrival would end up here sooner rather than later.

As it happened, just as she got Hirokazu and Guardromon out of there – with Guardromon protesting every step of the way because he'd _just_ got there – a quiet set of footsteps caught her attention.

She measured the newcomer in a heartbeat. About her height, average weight, with a cascade of thick black hair and pale gray eyes, thin lips and a nose that looked as if it had been broken at least once in her life, dressed in sensible winter weather gear, and carrying a small tuft of fire in her arms as if she did this every day of the week.

If she hadn't, she most certainly would from now on. If the partnership worked out, of course.

"I'm here to register as PetitMeramon's Tamer," she said, and Ruki wondered why the voice sounded ever so faintly familiar. She'd never met this person before, but the more she looked, the more she could see the faint ghost of familiar features on her as well. The shape of her cheekbones, the way she held her hands, the tilt of her head…

Ruki nodded, pulling her mind to business right away. "Sure." She turned towards the laptop resting on the table and called up the proper forms. This part bored her almost as much as the bland waiting did. But at least she got to know the new people and sometimes she even found someone a little interesting. "Names?"

"I'm Yukimura Chinatsu and this is PetitMeramon." She tapped the little squirt of flame in her hands. "He hasn't evolved yet, so I don't know what he'll be."

Renamon leaned forward to examine the little Digimon, nodding in greeting. "Hello."

"Hiiii!" PetitMeramon hissed the word out, but it didn't sound angry. More like fire spoke in human words. "This is a nice place!"

Renamon's lips twitched. "I find it interesting. How long have you been here?"

"It's been cold all the time since I came! But I keep Chinatsu warm!" PetitMeramon cuddled next to the teenager, who kept one arm folded around him, fingers resting fearlessly on the top of his head.

Ruki nodded absently as she filled in the requirements on the documents, getting the little information needed. There had been a great deal of arguing on exactly what was needed, until it boiled down to names of the partners, ability to evolve and to what, and where they lived being the only requirements. Anything else was entirely voluntary on the part of the new team.

"We're not here for long, maybe a couple of weeks," Yukimura told her. "We're visiting distant family for the holidays."

Ruki nodded; it wasn't the first time that she'd registered people who were only in town for a brief time. There were many different ways to do the registering, though in person was always considered best.

"Do you have a D-arc?" Ruki asked, the last bit of information she had to ask about. Yukimura shook her head.

"It's not necessary, is it?"

"No. But if you do happen to get one, and if PetitMeramon evolves, let us know so we can update the information." Ruki finished off the form and saved it. "All right, that's all we need. You'll get your Tamers card in the mail." She wrinkled her nose. "I'd say in a couple of weeks, but with the holidays, you never know."

Yukimura nodded, getting up from the chair in front of Ruki's desk. "Thank you." She bent her head down to PetitMeramon again. "Let's go meet up with Mother."

PetitMeramon wriggled, in a way that Ruki would've thought adorable if she were the type to think such things. "Can I have _cedar wood_ tonight?"

"Of course you can," Yukimura assured as they headed out. "I have some holly for you too."

Ruki didn't hear the response to that as the two vanished out of sight. She leaned back in her chair and snuggled into Renamon's arms again. She hadn't asked why they were out in weather like this, though if they were in town only for a short time then it made sense.

"Are you ready to go? It's time to close up," Renamon murmured. Ruki groaned, more because she didn't want to get up out of this warm haven than anything else.

"All right," she sighed, then levered herself to her feet. Getting ready to go didn't take all that long, just a matter of pulling her thick jacket on and checking to reassure herself that her D-arc rested in the proper pocket. A small purse finished her ensemble; it had been a gift from her mother two years earlier, a lovely shade that matched Renamon's fur almost exactly. Ruki didn't ever want to have to retire it.

Stepping outside of her office, she glanced up the stairs and considered letting Hirokazu know she was leaving.

_No, he knows what time we close up around here. If he doesn't remember to go home, that's his problem._

She instead turned the other way, to the door, and headed out. As much as she enjoyed dreaming about it, Renamon gave her a lift only when she genuinely couldn't make it on her own, and just generally not liking snow didn't come under the heading of 'not being able to make it'.

But Renamon remained with her; not always in view, but Ruki didn't doubt for a second if she'd needed her partner, Renamon would be there. She headed down the road, taking her steps carefully to avoid slipping, and longing for the warmth of spring.

Winter hadn't been her favorite season even before what happened with IceDevimon. She liked being able to go out whenever she wanted, for as long as she wanted, being able to breathe in without tiny shards of ice lodging themselves inside of her lungs, without needing coat and gloves and boots all there to keep the cold away.

There were still a few people outside, but as the sun slid below the buildings and soon below the horizon, casting long streaks of darkness, Ruki saw fewer and fewer of them. By the time she turned down the street home, she hadn't seen anyone for a good twenty minutes, and she wasn't certain if she could feel her legs anymore. She thoroughly anticipated being able to relax once more into Renamon's warmth and forget the outside world existed for as long as she could.

Her mother rested on the couch in the sitting room as Ruki entered, raising one hand to greet her daughter, a weary smile on her own lips.

"How was work today, dear?" Rumiko wanted to know. Ruki shrugged, taking her jacket off.

"The same as every day. I registered a few people and Digimon. Nothing I don't do every day I'm there." She only spent a handful of hours there every week; her education still took priority. But those hours were a great deal like themselves, no matter what. She thought her mother would've understood that by now.

"What about school?" Rumiko shifted a bit, trying to look a little more interested. Ruki wasn't sure if she was or not. Rumiko tried very hard, but she'd never been able to dredge up a genuine interest in school subjects.

That was something they shared, at least. Ruki dealt with it because it was necessary. She intended to go to college one day and she wasn't going to let the opportunity slip by.

So right now she just answered with a quick wave of one hand and went to her room to change into something that wasn't layered and warm. It wasn't necessary here – every room was as heated as possible.

When she stepped back into the sitting room, she wasn't surprised to see Renamon there, speaking quietly with her grandmother, who relaxed next to Rumiko with her new laptop on her knees. Ruki hadn't ever caught the trick of that, but she didn't need it, either. Still, there was a tiny scrap of envy there.

"Tell her, dear," her grandmother said, raising her head a little. "She has to know before they get here."

Ruki froze in place. She'd been on the way to the kitchen to determine what dinner options were. Now she slowly turned around to stare at her family.

"Tell me what? Before who gets here?" Ruki wanted to believe that they'd ordered dinner. It wouldn't be the first time. Her grandmother did prefer cooking it all herself but there were times when that wasn't possible for whatever reason.

Seiko petted her own partner, Otamamon. "We're having guests over for the holidays. They won't be staying here but they are going to be in the area until after the New Year, and they're probably going to come over for dinner a few times. Such as tonight."

Ruki's eyes shifted from her grandmother to her mother and back again. Rumiko let out a long sigh of her own as she reached for the steaming cup of coffee on the table.

"No. They're not from work. No one is going to ask you about modeling – at least I don't think they will." She sipped at her coffee before she raised her head to meet Ruki's confused expression. "We haven't talked about your father in a while."

"No..." Ruki wasn't sure if the word meant that she agreed they hadn't or if she just didn't want to talk about him. "Why?"

"Because who is visiting – it's " Rumiko set the cup back down and clasped her hands in front of her. "I only learned about this a few days ago. I wasn't sure when I should tell you."

The more she heard, the less that she liked this. "Is he coming?" She had no idea if she even wanted to see him or not. It had been a long time since she had, and the contact between them hadn't been all that strong for a while anyway.

"No. He's over in Europe somewhere. I don't even know where exactly." Rumiko stared down at her interlaced fingers. "But his second ex-wife and their daughter are coming. They're going to be here in another hour or so."

Ruki blinked several times, eyes going back to her grandmother. "Second ex-wife?" That was something that she hadn't heard.

"They married a little while after we were divorced," Rumiko answered instead. "I don't know much about it. I didn't ask."

That didn't surprise Ruki at all. She'd never heard all of the details and once she got old enough to really understand things, she knew that she didn't want to.

"How many ex-wives does he have?" She also wasn't sure if she really wanted the answer to that. But so few of the other questions on her lips made their way out.

"Just the two of us. Apparently she wants to get to know us a little better, now that you and her daughter are growing up. She's about a year younger than you are." Rumiko told her. Ruki jerked her head in a way that she thought might have been a nod.

"So what do I have to do?" Ruki considered the option of stepping right back out to into the cold. If it hadn't been so _cold_ then she would've done it.

"Just have dinner. That's all." Rumiko offered her a smile as she reached for her coffee again. "They know about Renamon and Otamamon, of course."

Of course. Everyone knew about Digimon these days. Ruki breathed in for a few seconds, then shrugged.

"All right." It wasn't as if she would have to deal with this for very long. Who knew, she might even actually like these people.

* * *

Seiko had plenty of dinner ready by the time that the knock came on the door. Ruki looked forward to eating, with or without any special guests. As the knock sounded, Rumiko answered it, shoulders squared and more tension running through her than Ruki remembered seeing in a while.

"Hello," Rumiko greeted, opening the door. "Come on in."

Ruki stood in the doorway to the kitchen, not at all able to squash down her curiosity to see the newcomers. What she saw first was a gloss of long black hair that seemed somewhat familiar.

"Hello, Rumiko-san," the adult woman said, removing her coat and hanging it up before changing into the offered house slippers. "It's good to see you again."

"Likewise, Yua-san," Rumiko nodded, before she glanced towards the teenager. "It's nice to meet you, Chinatsu-san."

_Chinatsu?_ The name rang in Ruki's memory. It wasn't the most common name, but she'd heard it somewhere before, that very day.

"Hello, Makino-san," the other girl said. Ruki froze where she was. She'd only heard it for under an hour, but she recognized it, and she glanced at Renamon only to confirm what she heard.

Renamon tilted her head forward, just as Rumiko stepped aside to gesture them towards the dining area. "This is _my_ daughter, Ruki, and her partner, Renamon."

Yukimura Chinatsu turned towards her, PetitMeramon held close between her hands. Ruki hadn't seen what she wore underneath her coat before, but now saw a sensible pair of jeans and a shirt, both in the colors of flame. Her hair still fell in a dark sheet down her back and she nodded for a moment before she paused and stared a touch more intently at Ruki.

"It's you." She tilted her head. "I thought it was you when I was there, but I wasn't sure."

Ruki crossed her arms over her chest. "I hadn't heard about you until about an hour ago."

Yukimura held her hand out. "Pleasure's all mine."

Ruki took the offered hand. She knew the basics of manners, no matter how hard Rumiko tried to teach her more, and so far she hadn't seen anything to indicate that she should dislike Yukimura. She was a Tamer, like Ruki, even if she and PetitMeramon didn't have a D-Arc as of yet.

_He's still in the Baby II stage. Maybe when he evolves,_ Ruki thought as the small group headed towards the table. Yukimura didn't babble as they sat down, but there was an air of restrained nervousness around her regardless.

"I haven't heard from him in ages, of course," Yukimura Yua sighed. "He sends the occasional e-mail and he pays the child support, of course, but he doesn't visit."

Rumiko toyed with her chopsticks. "He's like that with us, too. It's been months."

Ruki snorted. "He's probably traveling somewhere." She could understand the concept of wanderlust. It hit her more times than she cared to think about. But _cell phones_ existed!

"Have you ever met him? I remember seeing him when I was about two," Chinatsu said, feeding PetitMeramon small sticks she pulled out of a bag on her waist.

"A few times." Ruki paid more attention to getting her dinner than anything else at the moment. "It's been a long time."

Chinatsu said nothing for a few more moments, dividing her time between feeding herself and her partner. Ruki understood that very well; Renamon could and did feed herself, but Ruki always kept a careful eye out to be sure that she ate enough.

Both mothers conversed about topics that Ruki had very little interest in, mostly their respective jobs – it seemed that Yukimura Yua was a photographer for several nature magazines – and other bits and pieces that didn't sink in. Seiko took part in their conversation, though a smidgen of her attention remained on the girls as well.

"The last time I saw him," Chinatsu said, "he gave me this." She raised one hand to display a slender golden bracelet with a small charm hanging from it. "He told me that it's supposed to be good luck."

Ruki glanced at it; it wasn't something that she'd seen before. "It's pretty." Definitely not her style, though.

"I like it," Chinatsu agreed, giving it an admiring glance. "I never take it off."

If her father had ever given her something like that, Ruki thought she'd be the same way. But he'd never seen fit to do that.

Rumiko glanced over at the two of them, her gaze landing on the charm bracelet before she looked back to Yua, a worried tilt to her head. At least Ruki thought she looked worried, before one of her mother's practiced smiles leaped onto her lips.

"How late can you stay? It's getting quite cold out there, or it was the last time I looked."

Yua shook her head. "I'd like to stay longer, but you don't have to worry. We have a hotel room reserved already."

"But we're going to visit while we're in town," Chinatsu offered. She turned to Ruki. "Maybe we can go out with our Digimon later? I heard that you do that sometimes, to find ones that are just roaming wild?"

"We've done that," Ruki agreed. She wasn't sure if she wanted to go out with someone she barely knew, whose partner also couldn't evolve as of yet.

"But PetitMeramon is still very young," Renamon joined in. "It might not be for the best that he joins up."

Chinatsu didn't exactly pout, but Ruki thought she wanted to. Let her pout all she wanted. Ruki had her patrol scheduled for the next day and it would be hard enough with all the snow without a newbie getting in the way.

_Oh, great. Now I have to tell everyone else about her too._

* * *

**To Be Continued**

**Notes:** So, here we go. Been a while since I wrote Ruki. Hoping that you enjoy this! And yes, Chinatsu and her mother are Ocs of mine.


	2. Chapter 2

**Series:** After Tamers||**Story:** Chains of Blood  
**Characters:** Ruki, Renamon, OC||**Ship:** Ruki x Renamon  
**Chapters:** 2-9||**Words:** 4,015||**Total Words:** 8,127  
**Genre:** Family||**Rated:** G  
**Challenges:** Diversity Writing Challenge, Digimon Tamers, L18, 3-5 fics; Hat Challenge: Makino Ruki, Sibling AU, Diablous ex Machina; Completionist Big Bang; Word Set Boot Camp, #35, 38,274; Chapter Set Boot Camp, #7, 9 chapters; Include The Word, #8, famous; Novella Masterclass, Tamers, #1, Canon Goodness; What-if: What if Ruki had a sibling or half-sibling?; Valentine's Day to White Day 2016, day #22, write about siblinghood  
**Notes:** N/A  
**Summary:** It's winter. A lot of people get gifts in winter. Ruki didn't expect her gift to be the fact she has a half-sister, let alone everything else that's going to happen.

* * *

"Has it happened _yet_?" He stalked, each long claw tapping at the polished floor beneath him. He jerked his head over his shoulder to stare at the cowering human who crouched on the far side of the room: the one who had best have the answers that he demanded.

"No, sir," the human whispered, eyes cast down, fingers clenched together. He likely would have fled out the door if he'd been given the chance. But he knew better. He'd been trained by the best. "I don't know why."

Again he stalked, growling, slashing one clawed hand at the walls. He wanted to step beyond the barrier circle spread around him but that remained impossible – for now.

That would change in the future. In the very near future if he had anything to say about it.

There wasn't much that he could reach here. The floor and two of the four walls alone. Certain items could be safely passed to him, but he could do nothing to cross the circle himself.

He stared down at it, wishing that he could shred it. He'd wished that for a decade now. Ever since he'd first been tugged into this world from his own by some fool he'd never seen, who'd fled in terror upon realizing that he'd drawn something beyond whatever pathetic dreamings he'd entertained. Like setting a trap for a moth and netting instead a dragon.

Again he paced and again he glared at the human over there. At least this one knew how to bow properly before their master. No matter how long it had taken to teach him that.

"And why not? You told me that they would use it. You told me that you'd given them the keys."

Again the human cowered. Scars of his master's displeasure could be seen on his face. Darkdramon took the time to admire them. He did do good work, especially when his slave failed him.

"I did, Master. I sent it to both of them. But I haven't been to see them – I couldn't."

Of course he couldn't. Darkdramon had him performing far more important errands than tending to his spawn. The spawn that he'd been _told_ would be able to set him free from this prison so he could accomplish all the rest of his goals.

He tapped one clawed foot on the floor, thinking. "Very well. Then go to them. Tell them you'd like to spend time with them, and bring them to me." His tail twitched with delight. "Don't tell them anything about me. Call it a quiet trip to the mountains. Or whatever it is that you have to do to get them here."

His slave started to nod, then froze where he was. "My master, I can't – not like that." Before his master could demand to know why his orders weren't to be obeyed, the human continued. "My elder daughter, she's a Digimon Tamer. I've seen her on the news. She and her partner are very close. She might even recognize you if she saw you."

Darkdramon didn't like the sound of that. He paced a smaller circle, thinking of how to deal with this. Then he snorted.

"Then hire hands to do the work for you. If they wouldn't come willingly, then bring them unwillingly. We can manage from that point."

Again his servant bowed his head. "I can do that, Master. But it might take time. Finding ones who are clever enough to take them both with all of the other Tamers to deal with won't be easy." He winced. "And it won't be cheap."

Darkdramon growled words that shook the walls around him and did nothing at all to shift the sealing circle. Nothing would do that except the keys that he didn't have. "I've certainly provided you with enough. Stop making excuses and do your job, _slave_."

His slave crumbled at once, touching his forehead to the ground so near to the circle. Darkdramon rested one claw on it, digging in until his slave whimpered in pain.

"Obey me and you'll be rewarded with what you desire most," he purred. "And I know what you desire most, my mortal slave."

The human shuddered from the top of his head to the soles of his feet. He didn't' get up until Darkdramon raised his claw and let him go.

As soon as he vanished out of the door, Darkdramon resumed his pacing. There wasn't much else that he could do here. Going back to the pocket universe that he could get into would give him more room to see and do things. But he didn't want to, not right now.

He paced again. He longed to get out into this wider world that he'd seen so very little of and ached to shred it all to nothingness. His heart – whatever he had that could do the task of a heart – beat faster at the thought.

If he ever got his hands on whoever had cast this circle and sealed him in here, he would have gladly shredded them more than anyone else, first and foremost. Someone had to have done it. Someone who wanted to tame his power, more than likely. Someone who had no idea of who and what he was and oh, how Darkdramon _longed_ to teach them in the most painful of ways.

_I will. I __**will**_.

* * *

"You have a sister?" Hirokazu stared at Ruki as if the very thought of her having a sister was far out of his comprehension. He shook his head. "The one that turned up yesterday?"

Ruki sighed. She'd been through this three times already. Most of the others only shrugged; it was hardly the most amazing thing in the world to have a sibling. But she herself was getting pretty used to the idea.

"Can we meet her?" Hirokazu managed to ask something new this time. Ruki closed her eyes for a few seconds, leaning against Renamon, who rested one warm arm around her.

"She wants to meet all of you. She wants to go on a patrol with us. All she has is a Baby II, though. PetitMeramon."

Takato shrugged. "Well, there haven't been a whole lot of Wild Ones turning up lately. It shouldn't be that much of a problem, should it?"

Ruki considered closing her eyes again, just to see something that wasn't quite that irritating. Instead, she nodded, if somewhat reluctantly. "I don't like to take chances though. They don't have a Digivice yet, either."

"Give 'em time," was Impmon's suggestion from where he rested between Ai and Makoto. The twins were a lot more comfortable around the larger group of Tamers than they'd been when these meetings first began four years earlier, but he still spoke more than they did. "We didn't gets ours for ages." He tapped at his, clear pride visible in his eyes.

Ruki knew arguing the point wasn't going to do anything. Partners needed to work together to really be partners. Evolving was a lot easier since Culumon released his power than it had been before, so it wasn't entirely impossible that they could make progress.

But that didn't change the idea that she wanted them to stay out of trouble.

_Is that what a big sister thinks like?_ Ruki wondered. She wished that she knew someone who was a big sister. She glanced at Jenrya; he was an older brother at least, and his sister was a Tamer too.

Maybe later. Right now she was still struggling with the thought of having a sister. Most of the time she could deal with it pretty easily. Just not all of the time.

"Well, speaking of patrols, how are we going out tonight?" Takato asked, digging out the map of the area. "I know there aren't a lot of Wild Ones, but I have heard a couple of rumors about some here and there."

He spread the map where they could all see it. Having it like this usually made it a lot easier for them all to see what was going on. Ruki examined the areas that he pointed out, relaxing when she saw that none of them were near her home.

"I'll take this area," she said, pointing to the streets in that range. "If Chinatsu wants to come along, then that should be the best area. If something does turn up, it's not likely to be that dangerous."

The more powerful a Digimon was, the more likely it was that it wouldn't want anything to do with humans. Those were the ones who far preferred going back home to anything else. Sometimes a good fight was all it took to get them in the mood. Ruki had seen more than one human who was much the same way.

Sometimes even some of those Digimon found partners. One never quite knew where such a pairing could turn up.

She still hadn't quite wrapped her head around the fact of her _grandmother_ now having a partner. Though she and Otamamon got along very well, even having a Digivice. Ruki wouldn't have been surprised at all if Otamamon evolved one of these days.

Takato nodded, marking it down on a handheld device. Jenrya picked an area of his own, as did the others one by one. None of them were that close to each other. Their general line of thought on this was that spreading out covered far more territory and they got a lot more done – and if need be, they could get together to fight in a hurry.

So far, in the last five years that hadn't been necessary at all. Ruki hoped that it didn't ever turn out to be.

When everyone had their choices made, Ruki started to get up. "I'll let Chinatsu know." Her sister had given her a phone number to get in touch with her before she and her mother went to their hotel the night before. Ruki wasn't sure which hotel they were at, but she thought she should figure that one out sooner or later. At least while they were in town. It would probably be useful information.

"I still want to meet her!" Hirokazu chirped. "Can I come over?"

Ruki considered smacking him on the head. She held herself back, mostly because she didn't want to hurt her hand on the solid stone Hirokazu had perched on the top of his neck.

"I'll bring her by later, after patrol," she finally said. "Try to keep yourself together?" As if he ever would. Ruki knew him too well.

She bid the rest farewell and headed out, a thousand thoughts turning over and over in her head. Finally she tugged her cell phone out and dialed the number Chinatsu gave her.

"Hello," she greeted when the other answered. "It's Ruki."

Chinatsu didn't precisely chirp but she definitely sounded thrilled. "It's good to hear from you! Did you – can I -"

Ruki didn't sigh. She sort of wanted to but she didn't. "Yes. I told the other about you and you can come on patrol with me this afternoon. Did you want me to meet you at your hotel or will you come to my house?"

"I'll come over there. When?" Faint sounds came though the phone that Ruki suspected were PetitMeramon bouncing around – either that or Chinatsu bouncing around.

"Give it a couple of hours. And be ready for the cold. We probably won't be back until after dark." Ruki considered. "Make sure you eat before you come. And feed PetitMeramon."

"All right, all right!" Chinatsu squealed. "I'll see you then! Are we going to fight a Digimon?"

_She's more excited than I ever was._ Of course, Ruki knew that she'd not thought of Digimon as living creatures back then. Chinatsu would know better. She hoped.

"I don't know. I doubt it." At least Chinatsu didn't sound disappointed at that. Ruki didn't think she wanted to deal with a younger version of herself.

Once she'd finished the call, Ruki turned her steps back towards home. She had her own preparations to make, just like she'd told Chinatsu. She needed a good hot meal, to make sure that Renamon ate well, and checking that all of her cards were in order.

Not to mention actually waiting for Chinatsu to show up. She hadn't gone out on her own for a patrol in quite a while, and she wasn't sure if she had the patience for it anymore.

She raised her head to look at Renamon, wanting to ask if her partner wanted anything in particular for dinner, and saw Renamon's head raised as well, tension running all through her.

"Renamon? What's wrong?"

"I don't know. But there is something wrong somewhere." Renamon's clawed hands shifted back and forth. "I'm going to go see what I can find out about it. Be careful."

Renamon vanished before Ruki could even form a reply. She frowned at the empty space where Renamon had been, then shrugged her coat tighter around herself before heading home again. Renamon did this sort of thing whenever she thought it necessary.

That didn't mean that Ruki especially liked it, but she knew how Renamon thought.

It wasn't a far walk home from where she met with the others, even with all of snow everywhere. Ruki kept going, keeping an eye out for Renamon and not seeing her until nearly half an hour after she got home.

"Did you find out anything?" Ruki asked, nibbling on her own dinner.

Renamon shook her head, accepting her share of the food that Ruki kept warm for her. "I searched all around but couldn't find anything." Her eyes were dark and thoughtful. "I felt as if I were being watched the whole time, but there wasn't any trace of who might be doing it."

Ruki nodded. "We'll see what we can find out later. It might not be anything."

Oh, that she absolutely wanted. She finished the last of her food and headed to her cards. She savored a good fight, but tonight she wanted nothing but peace and quiet. Perhaps PetitMeramon could evolve going up against a squirrel. Or even a viscous cat. Some of those could go weight for weight with the smaller Digimon.

* * *

By the time Chinatsu showed up, she'd either calmed down a lot, or she took this more seriously than Ruki first expected. She had herself wrapped up in her coat and PetitMeramon on her shoulder, staring out at everything intently from blue eyes.

"So where do we go?" Chinatsu asked, after she greeted Ruki,, Renamon, and the others. She pushed her hair back a little, the charm on her bracelet glinting in the light.

"There are a few places we're checking on," Ruki told her. "Like I said, I don't expect us to fight a Digimon." At least not a very big one. Maybe whatever watched Renamon would be something on the order of a Child level. Those could be stronger than PetitMeramon but that could lead to an evolution.

She'd never seen anything lower than a Child Level come through, though. PetitMeramon seemed to be the exception.

As they headed out, Ruki glanced at him in curiosity. "How did you get here? One of the fields?"

"Yup! PetitMeramon bounced a little. He still had that hissing tone to his voice, as if a campfire learned how to talk. "I wanted a friend! I didn't have any back there."

His head bent down sadly. "I used to have friends. But they're all gone now."

Chinatsu reached to fold him into her arms. "What happened? Or did you not want to talk about it?"

PetitMeramon ducked his head more. "I'd really rather not." He snugged a little closer to Chinatsu. "It doesn't matter, though. I've got you now. And you're the best friend in all the world! In both worlds!"

Ruki's lips twitched a little. She and Renamon had never spoken to each other like that, but she could see the friendship between these two. They would make excellent partners.

Leaves and branches rustled. Ruki tensed, eyes scanning the nearby trees, and then relaxed at the sight of tiny beady eyes.

"What is it? Is it a Digimon?" Chinatsu wanted to know, leaning forward. "Oh!"

A squirrel burst out of the brush, chittered a few things that Ruki suspected wouldn't have been polite language if they'd been in Japanese, then scurried out of sight. Chinatsu blinked after it, before turning back to her.

"Not a Digimon."

Ruki shook her head. "Never seen a squirrel before?"

"Never. I don't go out after dark a lot." Chinatsu essayed a small smile before she looked at PetitMeramon. "I think you could've won."

PetitMeramon puffed himself up as much as he possibly could. Which really wasn't all that much. "Of course I would! I can beat anyone!"

Ruki stifled the snicker that wanted to pull at her lips and kept on going. The thought that something watched Renamon – and maybe her – lurked at the very back of her mind and she wanted to make certain that wherever it was, it wasn't going to give them any problems.

* * *

Chinatsu kept on walking with Ruki, keeping one arm around PetitMeramon, and wondering if anything interesting was really going to happen that night. She could tell Ruki didn't want it to happen, but Chinatsu really _did_ want to see some kind of action.

It wasn't as if she were going to see anything back home. She had to stay behind doors practically all the time, even with PetitMeramon. Her mother came home only intermittently, and wanted to be sure that Chinatsu was safe.

_It's not fair. Other people don't do this to their kids._

There had to be a reason for it. Her mother hadn't ever said what that reason was, and whenever Chinatsu asked, all she ever got told was that it was for her own good.

Chinatsu didn't want things for her own good. Ever since she'd first seen Ruki on the news all those years ago, she'd wanted nothing more out of her life than to actually _do_ something with it. To be like Ruki, one of those who'd saved the world.

_I can do it. I really can. I've got PetitMeramon. He can evolve. One day he will._

She'd read every scrap of information that she could find about Digimon. She knew that they needed a Digivice and they needed strong bonds to evolve. And she cared so _much_ for PetitMeramon. She thought he cared for her, too.

So it could happen. It just had to happen. Someday. Eventually.

More noises came from ahead and Chinatsu couldn't hold herself back for another second. This had to be more than just a squirrel or a stray cat – she could see little hints of fog, just like when she'd met PetitMeramon for the first time.

Now she plunged forward, heading right into the fog, and stared around, wishing she'd thought to bring sunglasses or something. She couldn't see more than a few steps in any direction. "All right! Whoever you are, come out, now!"

Chinatsu tried to sound authoritative. She thought it worked pretty well. At least, something else moved ahead of her, and she tensed, holding onto PetitMeramon. He really was very tiny and whatever was there was – bigger.

But she squared up her shoulders and took a firm step forward. "Whoever you are, we're not afraid of you!"

"Really?" A tiny voice spoke out of the mist. "You're not? That's good!"

Chinatsu shook her head. That wasn't exactly what she'd expected to hear. She glanced down at PetitMeramon, who looked up at her, then darted forward. A few seconds later, she saw him glowing ever so faintly. The glow increased moment by moment, until the mist blew away, and she could see what stood there.

It wasn't much bigger than her two hands put together, covered in green scales, with a sharp curved spike on top, staring up at her. She knew she'd seen it on a card, but not in person before. She just couldn't remember which card.

"Betamon," Ruki said, moving up to stand beside her. "Are you here to find a friend or are you here for a fight?"

Betamon's eyes grew wider and wider as it stared at Ruki, then at Renamon. Slowly it ducked its head. "I think I would just want to find a friend? Or find a way home? I don't even know where I am."

Betamon picked up one paw then the other before settling them back down. "I'm sorry? Did I go somewhere I shouldn't?"

"We can work that out later," Ruki said. "We can take you to somewhere you can get warm and get some food if you want. Juri can take care of you until we can decide where you go. She's very nice."

So she was. Juri mostly took care of Culumon these days, but she had a large heart for every stray Digimon who didn't turn up with a partner. She made a point to take care of them all until they found a companion or returned home.

A part of Ruki wondered if somehow Juri wanted to make up for having had Leomon for such a short time by doing all of this. Juri hadn't ever said and even Ruki knew there were some questions that should never be asked.

"Okay!" Betamon chirped before he leaped up into Chinatsu's arms. He blinked for a second. "Uh, is this okay?"

"Sure." Chinatsu agreed, making sure they were both safe. "Not a problem."

* * *

Renamon remained silent as they headed on the next leg of the patrol, which would take them close enough to their headquarters that they could drop off Betamon. It wasn't at all the first time they'd done something like this. Nor did she think it would be the last.

All the way she kept as careful an eye out on the area as she could. She'd searched her way through her when she'd been out before and seen no sign of whatever it was that worried her. She'd been aware only of a sense of power, the sense of being watched, but nothing more.

That worried her more than she wanted to let Ruki know. Ruki had enough to worry about right now without the added fret of watchers. Perhaps if they were still around after Chinatsu and PetitMeramon left.

Renamon glanced up again. She could see nothing out of the ordinary and yet that sensation of being watched didn't ebb in the slightest. It wasn't a pleasant feeling. Whoever did this watching wasn't a pleasant person.

Off the top of her head she could think of no less than five Digimon she'd known before coming to the Human World who might want to watch them with such hatred. Most of them she devoutly believed she and Ruki would be able to defeat. Some with more effort than others, but it could happen.

Her gaze brushed over to Chinatsu and PetitMeramon. But their presence changed matters – made them more dangerous.

_They hardly know each other and yet if someone dared to harm her, Ruki would rage like a wildfire at them._

As lovely a sight as that would be, Renamon didn't want it to happen. If Chinatsu couldn't be kept somewhere safe, then PetitMeramon had to be ready to evolve and fight to protect his partner.

Which in Renamon's mind meant that she'd have to take a hand in this. Even now one of the quickest ways to evolve would be to battle against another Digimon, at least until they somehow achieved their Digivice.

Taking in another's data would be frowned upon – and she knew she stood in no danger of being defeated by the little spark. But there were other ways, and she considered those quite carefully.

She regarded Betamon for a few moments. Perhaps he would be able to be of assistance. She wasn't a fit combatant for either of them, but perhaps together…

It would cause no harm to find out. And perhaps a great deal of good.

* * *

**To Be Continued**

**Notes:** I have Plans. Yes, they are Evil Plans. What other kinds do I have?


	3. Chapter 3

**Series:** After Tamers||**Story:** Chains of Blood  
**Characters:** Ruki, Renamon, OC||**Ship:** Ruki x Renamon  
**Chapters:** 3-9||**Words:** 4,017||**Total Words:** 12,144  
**Genre:** Family||**Rated:** G  
**Challenges:** Diversity Writing Challenge, Digimon Tamers, L18, 3-5 fics; Hat Challenge: Makino Ruki, Sibling AU, Diablous ex Machina; Completionist Big Bang; Word Set Boot Camp, #35, 38,274; Chapter Set Boot Camp, #7, 9 chapters; Include The Word, #8, famous; Novella Masterclass, Tamers, #1, Canon Goodness; What-if: What if Ruki had a sibling or half-sibling?; Valentine's Day to White Day 2016, day #22, write about siblinghood  
**Notes:** This is a week late. Sorry about that. I'm going to try to catch up and write another one before next Wednesday.  
**Summary:** It's winter. A lot of people get gifts in winter. Ruki didn't expect her gift to be the fact she has a half-sister, let alone everything else that's going to happen.

* * *

Most of the time, when Tamers did the rounds of their patrol, they would end up back at their headquarters – paid for by the rebuilt HYPNOS – at least twice or three times during it. Especially during bad weather; no one wanted to spend too much time being soaked or frozen or baked. So for the most part, Ruki wasn't surprised to see the building lit up and shapes moving around inside of it that she recognized as they got close enough.

Then a flicker of a mental wince. Hirokazu would be there. Hirokazu had already made it quite plain that he wanted to meet her sister. He was going to be _annoying_ about this.

For a few seconds she hoped that maybe he hadn't finished his patrol yet. Then she caught a glimpse of Guardromon moving past a window and dismissed the thought with a sigh. Well, she had promised to introduce them. Better to get it taken care of.

"Looks like everyone else is there," Ruki said, catching Chinatsu's attention. "You'll get to meet them."

Chinatsu's eyes rounded and sparkled all at the same time. "The Digimon Tamers? And their Digimon? Really? _Really_?"

"Yes." Ruki wanted to tell her they were just people – and often annoying people at that. Sure, they did know things she didn't sometimes, and she'd learned more from them than she'd ever imagined when they'd first met. But they were people all the same.

At least Ryou wouldn't be there. The last thing _he_ needed was another fangirl staring at him with sparkles in her eyes. Ruki didn't feel up to smacking him over the head with a board any time soon.

Betamon quivered. "Tamers?" He didn't look quite so eager to see them as Chinatsu did. He might want a partner but the thought of seeing an entire room's worth of highly evolved and famous Digimon made him quiver. "They're all there?"

Ruki nodded. "Don't worry about it." She wondered if Juri would have anyone in mind for Betamon or if they would have to wait a while. Hopefully not all that long. The sooner, the better in fact.

She didn't have to wait to open the door. Hirokazu pulled it open, grinning fit to split his face open.

"Hi! Welcome to the Tamers' HQ!" He waved fiercely, nodding towards Ruki before turning all of his attention onto Chinatsu. "I'm Shioda Hirokazu and this guy is my partner, Guardromon."

Guardromon raised one hand from where he stood off to the side. "Greetings. Welcome." His gaze fell on Betamon, who shivered all over. "Welcome to Earth, Betamon."

Betamon squeaked a little, ducking himself down some in Chinatsu's arms. "Hi? Sir?"

"Is Juri around? We're going to need to see if she's got someone to be this guy's friend." Ruki wasn't interested in Hirokazu staring at the "new girl". She was a Tamer; she needed to help the Digimon.

"Yeah, she's over there," Hirokazu said with a nod towards Juri's usual office, the vast majority of his attention focused still on Chinatsu. "You've got a really cute Digimon."

Chinatsu's cheeks tinged a bit pink. "Thank you. Oh, I'm Yukimura Chinatsu. It's a pleasure to meet you."

"Likewise!" Hirokazu stuck one hand out and left it hanging there for a few moments as Chinatsu tried to juggle two Digimon in an effort to shake. Ruki solved the issue by taking Betamon.

"I'll be right back," she promised, heading over to Juri's office. The quasi-Tamer – no one quite knew even now how to refer to her – stuck her head out of the door for a few moments, long enough to wave at Chinatsu, before going back inside.

Ruki settled herself down in the chair and set Betamon on the table in front of Juri. She could hear Hirokazu babbling on about things such as cards and how he'd located half a dozen extremely powerful Digimon and either defeated them singlehandedly or brought them in to be considered as Tamers' partners. Chinatsu at least didn't seem bored, though Ruki made a note to let her know that maybe one word in ten of what Hirokazu had to say would be actually true.

Juri leaned over to check on Betamon. "Hi there. So you want to be someone's partner?"

Betamon wriggled a little more. "I don't know. I thought about it – a little bit – on the way over here. But why would a human want me?"

"It all depends on if you and the human are friends or not. That's a good way to start off," Juri assured him. "But if you decide you'd rather go back to the Digital World, we can do that for you too. Would you like to meet some of our friends who don't have partners yet?"

Betamon cast his eyes down. "C-Can I have something to eat first, please? I haven't had anything for a while." A very sharp growl came from his stomach and Juri smiled.

"Not a problem. Come on." Juri held a hand out to Betamon and he bounced off of the table to snuggle on her shoulder. "Are you going out again, Ruki?"

"Probably. We didn't finish the whole circuit yet," Ruki said,, stretching and enjoying the warmth of the building. She thought about getting herself something hot to drink and maybe a snack before going back out, though.

She also thought about checking to see just how much Bullmon waste Hirokazu filled Chinatsu's ears with. Hopefully she'd gotten tired enough of it by now to meet some of the others, the ones who didn't insist on telling everyone that they were the most magnificent people who'd ever existed.

When she checked out the door, she saw Chinatsu seated in one of the comfortable chairs in the large common room, a cup of hot mugicha in hand that she sipped carefully. PetitMeramon had another one, which looked almost as big as he was, and he seemed to be thoroughly enjoying it. Hirokazu sat across from her, a cup of coffee in his own hands, and chatting in between sips. Chinatsu didn't look especially bothered by his nonsense, odd as that might be.

_I think I'll get me some tea before we go back out._ She'd be able to talk with the others then and see if there were any problems she would need to help with. At least ones that weren't named Hirokazu.

* * *

Rumiko's eyes strayed to the window now and then. The weather itself wasn't very bad right now; clear and bright, but snow still remained on the ground from previous days and one never quite knew what might happen with the Digimon out there. Even after five years she wasn't as used to some of this as she felt she should be.

_At least Ruki has Renamon to help her._ She pressed her hands together, turning her attention away from the window. She knew she couldn't keep staring, but with both Ruki and Chinatsu out there…

Seiko rested a hand on her shoulder. "You don't need to worry so much. They're going to be fine."

"I know," Rumiko replied with a hint of a smile. She didn't feel like smiling but she did it any way. She didn't want her mother to really know how worried she was.

Of course, Seiko could see through her attempts to be cheerful easily enough. Rumiko wondered if she'd ever be able to read Ruki that well.

"Do you regret letting Chinatsu and Ruki meet?" Seiko asked quietly, her eyes warm and worried as they rested on Rumiko's face. Rumiko bit her lip and turned her gaze away for a few seconds. She wasn't certain where else she could look that wasn't out the window.

Rumiko's fingers traced a mild design on the arm of the sofa. "I don't think so. I mean – we're doing what we can, aren't we?" She refused to let herself look towards one of the walls, one that held a very deep secret. "When I saw that bracelet-"

Seiko patted her. "You're right. We're doing what we can. As long as they both don't have them and they don't both know about them, then there's nothing to worry about."

The younger woman wanted to smile. She still couldn't drag it up properly. "So what if he comes around? Those things – they're dangerous. You know how dangerous." She knew her mother knew. Her mother had told _her_. Regardless, there were moments when Rumiko wondered if Seiko didn't believe what she'd been told.

"If you like, we can try to destroy it again."

Rumiko's lips compressed into a thin line. "No. That's not going to work. We just need to make sure that they don't both have them if he does.." She would have vastly preferred if what lay hidden in the walls could be somewhere else, somewhere extremely far away, but she didn't trust it anywhere else. Somewhere else, someone could find it.

Her ex-husband could find it, and Rumiko wasn't going to let _that_ happen. She refused to let him have anything that he wanted. He'd never wanted Ruki – never shown that much of an interest in her or anyone else for the longest time – and Rumiko refused to let that change now. If he came back, it wouldn't be for anything good at all.

She might not be able to save the world the way that Ruki did, but she had her own method. Which was to do everything she could so that the world wasn't in danger in the first place.

Almost against her will, but with a deep lack of anything else to do, she rose to her feet and made her way to the window. The second she passed where the hidden safe rested, her shoulders prickled and she itched to open it and stare once more at the deceptive beauty of the treasure within.

As she always did, she resisted it. She wouldn't be able to do so forever. The call grew stronger at certain times of the year and this was one of them.

But now she pushed it aside and watched out the window for any sign of the girls coming home and ignored the presence of evil behind her while she still could.

* * *

This wasn't the sort of place that he preferred frequenting if he had an option on it. His favored locations tended to be much cleaner and to have far fewer people around who would do virtually anything if one paid them enough. He could have found the type of person that he needed in those areas as well, but it would be ten times as expensive then.

_Though it's not even my money. It's __**his**__._ His lip curled at the thought. He loathed Darkdramon with every ounce of his heart. If he could have left the monster there forever, he would have done so.

But from the moment he'd entered that room and seen him for the first time, Darkdramon held a monstrous grip around his heart. Pain flickered through him at the first and faintest hint of disobedience. All he could do was what he did now.

He leaned back in his chair, his attention now on the thug across from him. This one looked more or less average, save for a few scars here and there. He could have walked down the street without most people being aware of what he did for a living, if they didn't look too closely.

"So that's the deal," he said, clipping his words. "You get the two girls and bring them to that address – without their Digimon being aware of where you take them."

The gang leader raised an eyebrow, eyeing the stack of bills in front of him. "You want us to kidnap two Digimon Tamers."

"One Digimon Tamer and one who just has a Digimon friend, not capable of getting any stronger," Darkdramon's servant pointed out. "It's not impossible. You don't have to hurt the Digimon at all. Time it right, be fast, and you can do it. I won't need them for all that long. An hour at most."

The leader leaned forward. "I don't care how long you need them or why. What I want to know is why we should put ourselves at this kind of risk. These girls have _HYPNOS_ looking out for them. And more Digimon. I've read about those things. You can't hide their partners from them."

He breathed in and leaned back. "I know. I have a partner myself." Darkdramon would snap his neck for daring to say that, but it might well be necessary. "I want them to meet him. But they don't know me and I'm afraid their mothers have told them a lot of horrid stories about me."

Now the other snorted. "And you're not doing anything to make those stories not true, are you?"

Damn. He should have taken the time to put his story together better. But he couldn't just let this slip away, not now.

"That's between me and them, not me and you. I don't want you to hurt them in any way. Just get them to me." He sipped another stack of bills out and set it next to the first. "This is the down payment." He named a very high figure, one with far more zeros in it than most people would have been comfortable with. "That will be your payment once you succeed."

The leader glanced at the money, greed and caution warring in his eyes for a few moments before greed overwhelmed it. "And where did you want us to bring them?"

"Here." Now he set a small card on the table. It wasn't his address, and it wasn't anywhere close to where Darkdramon remained trapped. But there he could talk to them. He genuinely wanted to do that before they saw Darkdramon for the first time.

Before the world came to an end.

"All right. When did you say you wanted this done?"

"As soon as possible. If you can do it tomorrow, then that's good, but try not to be much later. My partner is – very eager to meet them."

A flicker of something that wasn't even close to being a smile. "I'm sure that he is. All right, you've got yourself a deal." The money vanished in a heartbeat. "You didn't have to bring real money, you know. We do work online – we're not _barbarians_."

He gave a soft sniff. "I'm well aware of that." But he would far prefer not to leave any sort of trail and transactions online could be tracked. Perhaps more easily than one suspected when one worked with Digimon. He'd heard stories about what HYPNOS could do to people they suspected of committing Digimon related crimes. The only way he felt he would get out of what was to come was for no one to know he'd been involved in the first place.

But now he rose up and took his leave. This was not the reunion he'd once hoped for, and he saw no signs of it getting any better in the days to come.

* * *

Chinatsu tried to believe that she was sitting inside the Digimon Tamers headquarters, a delicious hot drink in her hands, her partner snuggled against her, and having a conversation with a Tamer. Well, maybe not a _conversation_. She liked listening to what Shioda-san said, but she couldn't exactly compare his years of being a Tamer to just being PetitMeramon's friend.

When he stopped long enough for her to say anything, she essayed a question of her own. "How exactly did you and Guardromon-san become partners?" She'd heard all kinds of stories about all of the Tamers, enough so she wasn't at all certain of which were true and which weren't. They couldn't all be.

She was fairly convinced the one about Akiyama-san really being from another dimension wasn't true. But he didn't see to be around for her to ask anyway.

Shioda-san leaned back, stretching his arms upward, and throwing a grin over at Guardromon. "Well, that's a pretty long story, really."

"NO, it isn't," Guardromon replied at once. "I was injured and you helped me. You were a true friend to someone that you didn't know very well – and I liked you. So you're my Tamer."

He'd barely started to speak before Shioda-san jerked himself up and started waving his hands, turning bright red. Chinatsu couldn't help but chuckle a little.

"I wish it would work like that for me and PetitMeramon. But that was in the Digital World, wasn't it?" At his nod, she sighed. "I'd like to go there. It must be very different."

"It really is. It's not a vacation kind of place, though." Shioda-san wrinkled his nose. "I'm glad I went but it was good to be home, too." He grinned suddenly. "And if you think there wasn't anything amazing about how Guardromon and I got to be partners, wait til I tell you about Kenta and MarineAngemon!"

Chinatsu continued to pet PetitMeramon while he talked, wondering what might have been if she'd lived closer to the Makinos five years earlier. Would she have met PetitMeramon then? Would she have been a Tamer then? Would she already have learned how to evolve him? What was he going to be when he evolved?

She glanced down to where he chewed one of the sticks that she'd given him. "Do you know what you're going to evolve into?"

PetitMeramon twitched and swallowed the twig. "I dunno. There are a lot of Digimon that I _could_ evolve into. Most of the ones that I know became Candmon."

Shioda-san leaned forward, digging into the deck he carried, and pulled out a card. "This is a Candmon!" He said, displaying it to her. She checked it out; somehow, she didn't think that a large talking candle would be he preferred partner.

"It's nice," she said, trying to be polite. Her mother did her best to make certain she had manners, after all. "I hope we find out soon." That would also – she hoped – mean that she and PetitMeramon were official partners, Tamer and Digimon.

"Excuse me."

Everyone looked up when Renamon spoke. She stood there, arms crossed, eyes on PetitMeramon.

"If you wish to evolve, then the best way to do so is to train against other Digimon. Preferably in this world – even now the Digital World involves taking the data of those who are defeated. But here, sparring against others can contribute to your strength and experience."

PetitMeramon stared up at her. "Do you mean-" Chinatsu could feel him quivering and hoped that Renamon didn't want to spar against him herself. Just the little she'd seen of how the fox Digimon fought told her how powerful Renamon was.

But Renamon shook her head. "Not any of us. But there are other Digimon here who would make a better opponent for you. It could help them as well. Perhaps Betamon, when he's feeling a bit better." Following the turn of her head showed Betamon in Juri's arms, sucking down some sort of hot drink, and chattering happily to a young boy.

PetitMeramon looked more and more interested in the idea. "I can do that," he murmured, before he looked up at Chinatsu. "Can't I?"

"Of course you can! Just ask him whenever you want to and I bet he'll be glad to do it!" Chinatsu grinned, already looking forward to the experience. "And I bet you're going to win, too!"

PetitMeramon wriggled at her words. "I'll do it! I'll do it!"

Renamon nodded, fading away a breath later. Chinatsu wondered just how Ruki could have ever gotten used to that. Spooky – but kind of cool regardless.

* * *

"So, pretty quiet night," Jenrya said. "At least if there's going to be trouble, it hasn't happened yet."

Ruki nodded. That was what she wanted to hear. As long as she had Chinatsu with her – and she had a pretty good idea that Chinatsu would want to come out on her patrols until PetitMeramon evolved and they became genuine Tamers – she wanted nice and quiet times with only the occasional Wild One, preferably low levels or at least something that she and Renamon would handle.

Jenrya cast a glance over to where Hirokazu and Chinatsu kept on talking to one another. "I think she'll be a good Tamer. She and her partner look like they get along pretty well." The sides of his lips quirked for a second. "And she doesn't seem to think Digimon are just data."

Ruki considered smacking him upside the head and decided it wasn't worth the effort. As much as it irked her on occasion, she knew Jenrya could beat her in a fight if she ever pressed it. Physically. Verbally they were a minimum of equals.

"And I think if she needed to, she could fight pretty well. Without having a crisis over it," she retorted with a flicker of a grin of her own. Jenrya only rolled his eyes and reached for his hot coffee.

"So are you going to finish your patrol tonight? We're going back out soon."

Ruki sipped her milk tea. "Yeah. It feels so good in here, though." The later it grew, the chillier it got. Better that they got out and got it taken care of before it got much worse. Though the longer she stayed in here, the less like actually going out there seemed.

Then with a deep sigh she threw the rest of her drink down her throat and got up. "You should go finish your patrol soon. And don't tell me that you already did."

Jenrya said nothing, only took another careful sip of his coffee and nodded. Ruki headed for Chinatsu.

"We're going back out for the second round," she told her sister. "Ready for it?"

For a second she thought Chinatsu might turn her down. She wouldn't be upset if she did; doing this wasn't easy on her and she'd been doing it on a regular basis for three years now. Then her sister got up, a firm expression of determination on her face.

"I'm ready."

Ruki nodded. She still didn't know as much about Chinatsu as she wanted to, but she could appreciate that determination, so much like her own.

_I wonder if we both got that from Dad._ It had been so long since she'd seen him. It once seemed so easy to get in touch whenever she wanted. She'd had his e-mail and phone number and once in a while she'd used them. He'd never been able to come visit her, no matter how often she asked, and she'd stopped asking eventually.

She now wondered how much of that was because he'd had Chinatsu and her mother to take care of and how much was because of his job. She wasn't entirely certain of what he did, only that it was extremely important. Her mother and grandmother both assured her that he loved her, even if he wasn't around, though her mother hadn't ever seemed convinced that he loved _her_.

Rumiko hadn't ever said anything about the breakup except that she'd realized she didn't love him. Fair enough, Ruki always thought, and really hadn't given it much more thought than that. But now that she'd met Chinatsu and her mother, she had to wonder if it were something else. And if it were something else, then what could it be?

Maybe she'd ask her mother or Chinatsu's mother, before they left, once the holidays were over with. Christmas was still almost a week away and she expected they would be around until probably after New Year's. There was plenty of time to find out.

_Maybe we can get PetitMeramon to evolve and get them their Digivice. That would be a good present._ She couldn't think of anything else that Chinatsu might want. Granted, she knew that she didn't know her sister all that well just yet. Maybe it would be different next year. She found herself sort of looking forward to what this year would bring a bit more than she had before.

* * *

**To Be Continued**

**Notes:** Mugicha is barley tea. It can be drunk hot or cold, though tends to be more popular cold in the summer. Also, I fully expect you to know who Darkdramon's servant is. I've hardly made a secret of it.


	4. Chapter 4

**Series:** After Tamers||**Story:** Chains of Blood  
**Characters:** Ruki, Renamon, OC(s)||**Ship:** Ruki x Renamon  
**Chapters:** 4-9||**Words:** 4,068||**Total Words:** 16,212  
**Genre:** Family||**Rated:** G  
**Challenges:** Diversity Writing Challenge, Digimon Tamers, L18, 3-5 fics; Hat Challenge: Makino Ruki, Sibling AU, Diablous ex Machina; Completionist Big Bang; Word Set Boot Camp, #35, 38,274; Chapter Set Boot Camp, #7, 9 chapters; Include The Word, #8, famous; Novella Masterclass, Tamers, #1, Canon Goodness; What-if: What if Ruki had a sibling or half-sibling?; Valentine's Day to White Day 2016, day #22, write about siblinghood  
**Notes:** This chapter contains attempted kidnapping as well as drugging and mentions of plot.  
**Summary:** It's winter. A lot of people get gifts in winter. Ruki didn't expect her gift to be the fact she has a half-sister, let alone everything else that's going to happen.

* * *

"Digimon." His right hand man eyed him as if he'd somehow lost his mind. In all fairness, Nakahara Hifumi wasn't certain if he hadn't by taking this job. The money was good, without a doubt, but that wasn't the issue.

"That's right. We don't really have to deal with them – just enough to put them out of commission so we can take the girls. No harm is to be done to them." Nakahara told them what their new client wanted.

What he said didn't seem to relax Hisakawa anyway. He remained in his chair, arms crossed over his chest, staring back at him with that familiar expression that said he wanted a lot more answers than he was likely to be given.

"And this guy is?"

"I didn't bother with his name," Nakahara pointed out. He seldom did. Names weren't a big thing in his line of work, just the job and the money. "But it shouldn't be that hard. We can snatch them tomorrow afternoon. I get the feeling he's an estranged father. He'll probably try to take them out of the city." He wasn't sure of how much of his client's spiel to believe, though he did believe in the money. It was about all he believed in.

Hisakawa made a soft thoughtful noise. "Got any ideas on how to do it without those Digimon getting in the way? I'd rather not shredded by one of them."

The rest of the group agreed; Nakahara wasn't going to argue the point himself. "We really only have to worry about one of them. The other one isn't capable of getting stronger and the first one is a – what do they call it?" His eyes flicked over to one of his associates, who offered the word.

"A Child-level. Our information does suggest that this one is a very powerful Child level, however. I wouldn't want to underestimate it."

She leaned forward and flipped her laptop around, revealing an image of the Digimon – at least as tall as an adult human, looking a great deal like a two-legged fox. A touch of a couple of keys pulled up the image of a young woman, probably in her teens, next to the fox. The Digimon was labeled as Renamon, the girl as Makino Ruki – one of the pairs that had actually saved the entire world a few years earlier.

Nakahara couldn't help but be a little grateful to them. After all, it would be a little difficult to get paid if the world had been swallowed up by whatever the hell that thing had been back then. But they were getting paid _now_, which meant they were going to go through with this.

"Tamers are with their partners at all times," he said, thinking through their options. "So what do we know of that can take them out safely?"

He wasn't surprised that it was his tech genius who came up with the answer. That was, after all, what he paid her for.

"Heavy duty tranquilizer darts. Medium level ones for the girls, to keep them out until we get them where we're going." Kita Reina suggested. "All we're going to need is between two and four sharpshooters who can hit their targets and six others. Four to pick them up, two drivers."

Nakahara liked the way she thought. He had enough people to manage that. "We also need somewhere to dump the Digimon – and enough tranqs to keep them under until he's done whatever it is that he's going to do." Maybe some chains, too, something to keep the Digimon and the girls from doing anything. If the payer didn't like it, then he should have said something to that effect before settling the bargain.

"We have a warehouse that's not being used for anything else right now. It's here." Kita's fingers flicked over her keyboard and the image shifted to a map of a particular region. "Where did you say we're going to take the girls?"

"Here." Nakahara indicated the address. The empty warehouse stood about half a dozen streets away from the location. They sorted out the rest of the mission carefully, before he sent texts to the particular members that he was going to need. None of them would need to know anything more than what their targets were. His people didn't ask for details that they didn't need to know.

It should have felt like any other job. It would not even be the first time that they abducted someone on the others of someone else. What made this different – perhaps even slightly more difficult than other such jobs – were the Digimon. None of them could be entirely certain if the tranqs would even work on them. But since he'd already accepted the money, it was better to just go on with the job and hope for the best.

* * *

The rest of that night's patrol had been extremely boring. Ruki tried not to thin back too hard on the days when one could find a Digimon to fight just by walking down the average street. Being bored meant that there wasn't any fighting going on that would harm innocents, and that Ruki definitely approved of. Perhaps she wouldn't have at eleven but she wasn't eleven now.

But now it was afternoon again and she, Renamon, Chinatsu, and PetitMeramon were back at the headquarters in the sparring room. The sparring room wasn't that much to look at: just a wide room with padding on the walls and the floor treated so that most Digimon attacks wouldn't do a lot to it. HYPNOS made sure that they got repairs when they needed it.

On the far side of the sparring area there waited Betamon, his attention turned attentively towards them, and standing behind him the same boy that he'd been talking to the day before – Katou Masahiko, Juri's little brother. He was about eight years old now; a bit younger than Impmon's own Tamers. He'd wanted to have a partner of his own for over a year now, and it looked like he and Betamon were getting along pretty well.

"All right!" Takato declared. "Let's see what you guys can do. Ready?"

"Ready!" PetitMeramon shouted, waving tiny fiery hands.

Betamon nodded just as fast. "Ready!"

"You can do it, Betamon!" Masahiko declared. "I believe in you!"

Chinatsu favored PetitMeramon with her own encouraging look. "I know you can do this! You're my partner, no matter what!"

PetitMeramon puffed himself up as big as he could, his cheeks getting bigger and bigger before he finally blew a sphere of fire towards Betamon. "Flame Shot!" He declared the attack a breath later.

Betamon dodged as fast as he could and whipped around to one side. "Water Shot!" He retorted, a spray of fresh water following the words. PetitMeramon leaped to the side to avoid being put out, then pressed his hands together, fire appearing just over his fingers.

"Try this on for size! Fireball!" He cast it forward and this time PetitMeramon couldn't quite get out of the way in time. He shuddered all over, then shook it off, energy beginning to gather alongside of his red fin.

"What do you think of this?" Betamon tilted forward and a stream of electricity flashed forward, so quick that not only did PetitMeramon not dodge it, but Chinatsu also had to get out of the way, her jacket scorched a bit. "That's my Electric Shock!"

PetitMeramon scoffed, gathering himself again before shooting another Fireball at his opponent. "I think you should burn!" He followed that with a giggle; nothing but trash talk. Ruki had heard it all before over the gaming table. Sometimes she even unbent enough to use it herself.

The two of them kept on trading attacks, some of them getting through, others being avoided, and sometimes with their prospective Tamers having to move to avoid being hurt themselves. The Digimon weren't nearly as good at this sparring as their older kindred were. Ruki thought if it were her and one of the others doing this, not only would it not have ended relatively quickly, but neither of them would have taken so much as a flicker of damage. They just knew how to get out of the way too well.

Of course, they had learned that in the hard school of "get out of the way or die a horrible painful death".

A battle between two of the more skilled Tamers could have lasted for hours. This sparring session wrapped up in loosely half an hour. Chinatsu slumped down, quivering, drawing in deep breaths as she pulled PetitMeramon close to her.

"You did good," she assured him, while Masahiko did the same thing for Betamon. Betamon stared up at him worshipfully before he yawned, closed his eyes, tucked himself against the human, and fell asleep.

"When he wakes up, make sure that he has a good meal. Did you want to take him home tonight?" Juri suggested as she came over. Ruki wondered how much it would hurt her still to see her half-brother with a Digimon. She never talked about Leomon, but Ruki didn't think she'd ever be able to deal with losing Renamon. Not having her for those weeks after the defeat of the D-Reaper had been more than enough.

Masahiko looked down at the little Digimon in his arms. "Yeah! I can do that?"

"Sure. I don't think anyone will mind." Juri reassured him. She glanced at Chinatsu. "You two did really well too."

Chinatsu nodded, her arms folded around PetitMeramon. "But we didn't get a Digivice."

"Don't worry about it. It'll happen when it happens," Jenrya told her. "You guys are pretty good together."

Ruki wasn't going to argue that point. She agreed, after all. She glanced outside to where the sun headed downwards and the sky turned from pale winter blue to dark evening blue. "Come on. I'll get you home."

She wasn't in a bit rush to get there herself. Her mom and grandma were being a bit weird, though she couldn't put her finger just on what it was that bothered her about it. The way that her mom kept looking at her when they didn't think she was looking at them. She'd heard a few whispers that she hadn't been able to hear clearly, ones that stopped the moment she came into the room.

Whatever it was, she wanted it to stop. She wanted to think it had nothing to do with her. She wasn't certain how much of that was true. Renamon hadn't mentioned anything to her yet, so either she hadn't heard anything or there wasn't anything worth telling her about.

She also couldn't quite shake the notion that something or someone was watching her in the first place. If Renamon had figured out what had been going on during their previous patrol, she'd also not mentioned it. She decided she'd ask Renamon about it when they were alone, after dropping Chinatsu and PetitMeramon off.

Peeling Hirokazu off of them so they could go home turned out to be a bit difficult. He babbled for a good twenty minutes on how awesome Chinatsu's fighting was and how he expected them to manifest a Digivice at any point, if they just synced up in the right way. Ruki lovingly entertained all the different ways that she could get him to shut up before finally choosing the simplest of them.

"We're going home. You can talk to her again tomorrow," Ruki declared, starting for the door. Chinatsu followed, a bit of a smile on her lips. Hirokazu's farewell followed them, and once they were out of sight of the building, Chinatsu asked a questio Ruki expected.

"Is there something wrong with Shioda-san? He seems very nice."

"He's not a bad person," Ruki admitted. "But he hasn't figured out what "boundaries" are. Or how to keep his mouth shut."

Chinatsu nodded, though Ruki doubted that she really believed it just yet. It took knowing Hirokazu for a lot longer than she had to really understand him. That would come in time.

A faint prickle of warning ran its way down Ruki's spine as they turned down a street closer to where Chinatsu and her mother were staying. She'd felt that before, most often when it came to Digimon attacking. But there wasn't anything here that looked capable of causing the slightest bit of harm. Not even a wisp of the fog that brought Digimon between the worlds.

Renamon materialized next to her, and after having been partners for so long, Ruki could tell something worried her. Ruki started to say something – just Renamon's name, nothing more. Before she could completely form the word, however, a quiet cry interrupted her and Ruki jerked around to stare at Chinatsu, who had one hand raised to her shoulder.

At first Ruki didn't see it. It was dark, after all, and while they stood in the glow of a streetlight, it didn't really click in her head right away. Only when pain flowered from her own shoulder and her hand flew up there, did she realize what was going on.

A dart of some kind. She'd never seen one like it before. But even as she tried to grab hold of it, her legs wobbled and her eyes glazed over. She turned towards Renamon, reaching out one hand towards her, just in time to see another dart flowering out from Renamon's shoulder – and then a second one.

_Renamon?_ Ruki wasn't at all certain if she'd even spoken the name out loud. All she knew for certain was that she tried, and before she could do anything else, the ground introduced itself to her violently, and she collapsed next to Chinatsu and Betamon.

* * *

No one said anything. No one needed to. They knew their job and how to do it. The drivers parked next to where the four fallen figures were, and the gatherers got out quickly. All four of them moved quickly – they wore concealing masks over their faces and gloves to make certain they left no traces. As rapidly as they could, two of them carried the Digimon into one van, while two others picked up the girls and started to load them into a quiet, discreet car.

It would have gone off perfectly. They never quite knew why it didn't, or at least what had given them away. Perhaps just a little bad luck.

Though in fair truth, it wasn't normally black _dogs_ that brought bad luck. But a howl cracked the night air, stopping all of them where they were. One by one they stared from one side to the other. One of them shook his head..

"Let's get out of here. It's getting too spooky."

No one wanted to argue that at all. But before they could finish loading Ruki and Chinatsu, the howl cracked again, and footsteps sounded. From somewhere in the shadows, there emerged a girl of about Ruki's age, dressed in black jeans and a black sweater, who did not appear to feel the cold as a normal person might have done. By her side there stood a creature whose head came up to her waist, one shaped nominally like a dog, but with blazing red eyes that shone with an intelligence no dog of Earth had. Not one of the criminals missed the claws on the toes or the spikes on the back of each foot, let alone the sharp teeth visible when he opened his mouth.

"Where do you think you're taking our friends?" He asked, and the ones there stared. The idea of Digimon talking wasn't a new one, but none of them had ever been addressed by one before.

The girl's blue eyes stared at them relentlessly. She didn't look for a second as if it bothered her that there was only one of her and so many of them. _I've seen worse odds than you,_ that look said, _and you do not impress me._

"I don't think you should be taking them anywhere. They don't want to go."

Her hand rested briefly on her companion's shoulder. None of them had quite enough time to react before he leaped forward, yanking the two girls away in the twinkling of an eye, followed by the two Digimon. She stared at them harder before she spoke again.

"I think you might want to leave. And not bother them again." An expression that might have been a smile but in no way conveyed pleasure rippled over her features. "Because I'm not the only Tamer around here tonight and when her other friends see what you did, you're going to regret what you've done _very much_ if you're still here."

The criminals found themselves able to move now. None of them knew what had happened – they certainly didn't connect their inability to move to the bone-chilling howl that shattered the air moments earlier. All of those who weren't yet in a vehicle scrambled into it, wanting nothing so much as to get away from those terrifying blue eyes and the blazing scarlet ones that spelled out their doom if they didn't get away as fast as possible.

The money be damned. _Living_ was far more important.

* * *

Takato, Jenrya, Hirokazu, and Kenta pelted up as fast as they could, even as the lights on the cars faded out of sight. Kenta and MarineAngemon hurried river over to Ruki and Chinatsu, Kenta checking the girls while MarineAngemon inspected the Digimon.

Jenrya and Takato looked at the girl who stood there. She smiled at them. "Thanks for coming so fast."

"Thanks for calling us, Alice," Takato said. He still wasn't certain of what to think of her. They'd seen each other only intermittently over the last five years – no one knew much about Alice McCoy except that she and Dobermon were partners and Tamers. And now that she'd apparently driven off a pack of criminals effectively by herself.

Alice shrugged. "It was just luck that I was here." Her gaze flicked back to the girls and Digimon as MarineAngemon let loose with a stream of his healing bubbles. "If I'd come this way five minutes from now then I would have been too late."

Jenrya folded his arms over his chest. "What do you think they were up to? I mean, we don't get a lot of kidnappings around here. Especially not Tamers."

"And they knew to take out the Digimon, too," Hirokazu added. He could be a loudmouth airhead – as Ruki would have been first in line to admit – but there was a sensible head in there when he chose to use it. "Did you notice anything else, Guardromon?"

Guardromon regarded the area carefully. "Nothing worthwhile, Hirokazu. They fled very quickly and their traces won't last long enough to follow them anywhere."

Takato nodded. "Let's get the girls home, then. Maybe they'll know something when they wake up."

No one protested that either. Guardromon scooped up Renamon while Terriermon and Jenrya carried Betamon and Chinatsu, with Takato and Hirokazu sharing the duty of carrying Ruki. They made it at least most of the way to the hotel where Chinatsu and her mom stayed before Ruki opened her eyes, her head lashing around and rage filling her eyes.

"Calm down!" Takato shouted as soon as it dawned on him she was in "fight" mode. "You're safe! We got you away from them!"

Ruki blinked a few times, her eyes slowly clearing, and her tension easing once she saw Chinatsu, fading away entirely when she saw Renamon. "What happened?" She flailed a bit until Hirokazu and Takato stopped and let her get on her own two feet. "All I saw was us getting hit with those things."

"Tranquilizer darts," Kenta said. "I don't know how strong but probably really if they took both you and Renamon down."

Ruki rubbed her shoulder where the dart had sunk in, then reached over and poked at Chinatsu. "Are you awake?"

Chinatsu grumbled, but didn't move just yet. Her eyelids fluttered, then she relaxed back into a deep sleep. Ruki sighed. "Guess not."

"She should be all right. I'm not much of a doctor, but MarineAngemon's bubbles should have repaired most of the damage to all of you," Kenta said. "It'll be better if you can all get some sleep."

Ruki tried to stop herself from yawning. She wasn't doing a very good job of it. She did look over at Alice. "What are you doing here?"

"We were out for a walk," Alice said quietly, hand resting on Dobermon's head. "We saw them trying to take you and I thought you wouldn't want that."

That got a smile out of Ruki. "You were right." She raised one hand to her shoulder, confused and upset and not very happy despite her smile. "I'll call Mom and Grandma once we get inside."

* * *

Rumiko snatched up the phone as it rang. Ruki should have been home by now. Granted, Ruki sometimes went out for walks on her own without telling anyone but that never once stopped her from worrying. She was a mother. That was part of her job.

"Rumiko," it was Yua. Rumiko's heart dropped in fear. "The girls are both here and they're going to stay here tonight."

Rumiko sat herself down on the couch. "What happened?" It wasn't snowing. The weather was remarkably good, if cold and with snow still piled up past one's knees. So something had to have happened. Her imagination offered all manner of dangers that could have befallen them.

Yua sighed a deep and heartfelt sigh. "Apparently someone tried to kidnap them. They were knocked out. One of their friends showed up in time to stop it, though. Now they're all here. Chinatsu is still asleep but Ruki's wake. Did you want to come over?"

Rumiko closed her eyes for a few seconds before opening them to look at her mother. Seiko simply stood there, an expectant expression on her face. Rumiko's eyes shifted over to the hidden safe in the wall and the secret kept within for so very long.

"Yes. We'll be over there as soon as we can." She swallowed and sighed. "Yua. I think we need to tell them. Both of them."

She wasn't surprised by the silence. Yua probably hadn't even known that she'd know there was something to tell.

"You might be right. I – I never wanted Chinatsu to know. I hoped she'd never need to."

That brought a very weak laugh to Rumiko's lips. "I've had to deal with Ruki saving the world before she was twelve years old. I'm not surprised that she'll have to do it again before she's eighteen. I'll bring it with me. Do you think Chinatsu will be awake by then?"

"I don't know. I hope so. I don't want to have to explain this twice."

"Neither do I." With that, she hung up, and leaned back for a while, her eyes closed and taking deep breaths that did very little to calm herself. "It was him," she said quietly, though if it were to the air or to her mother she didn't know. Wasn't sure if she wanted to do. "He probably paid for it. What does he think he's _doing_?"

She knew, though. She'd always known. She'd hoped with all of her heart that nothing would come of it. That he would never try to get to know them, never try to get in touch, that he'd either find another way to do what she'd _known_ he would do, or just not do it at all. But her hope had been in vain. She'd thought it might be ever since Chinatsu and Yua turned up. They hadn't done it on purpose. She believed in that with all of her heart. But with the two of them being together, especially this time of year, then it would have to happen.

_Maybe I can at least hope for Ruki and Chinatsu to stop this._ That she could try. After all, Ruki was a Digimon Tamer and she'd pulled off miracles before, with the help of her friends. Surely she could do it again. Surely _they_ could do it again, save the world and end the nightmare before it came crashing down hard on them all.

Even if what she faced seemed far more like a demon than a Digimon to Rumiko.

* * *

**To Be Continued**

**Notes:** So, I'm going to post two more chapters of this Thursday and Friday. That will complete the requirements for Completionist Big Bang. After that – we'll see. I have plans.


	5. Chapter 5

**Series:** After Tamers||**Story:** Chains of Blood  
**Characters:** Ruki, Renamon, OC(s)||**Ship:** Ruki x Renamon  
**Chapters:** 5-9||**Words:** 4,023||**Total Words:** 20,235  
**Genre:** Family||**Rated:** G  
**Challenges:** Diversity Writing Challenge, Digimon Tamers, L18, 3-5 fics; Hat Challenge: Makino Ruki, Sibling AU, Diablous ex Machina; Completionist Big Bang; Word Set Boot Camp, #35, 38,724; Chapter Set Boot Camp, #7, 9 chapters; Include The Word, #8, famous; Novella Masterclass, Tamers, #1, Canon Goodness; What-if: What if Ruki had a sibling or half-sibling?; Valentine's Day to White Day 2016, day #22, write about siblinghood  
**Notes:** This chapter contains attempted kidnapping as well as drugging and mentions of plot.  
**Summary:** It's winter. A lot of people get gifts in winter. Ruki didn't expect her gift to be the fact she has a half-sister, let alone everything else that's going to happen.

* * *

He slammed the phone down. He didn't _need_ to but he did it anyway. He needed to vent somehow after what he'd just heard.

He hardly noticed that the phone cracked when he threw it across the room. It didn't make a difference. It wasn't even his real phone, just a burner that he kept for the specific purpose of communicating with his hirelings.

More than anything he wanted to strangle those hirelings right now. Such _cowards_!

Though if he had to be fair – and he did not want to be – then he shouldn't be surprised that those perfectly ordinary humans ran away from a Digimon. They hadn't been armed or prepared for an extra one to show up, so the snipers hadn't had extra darts for that new one.

If they'd moved faster, though, or if they'd carried more of those darts, it would have been very different. Now he had to work with what they'd left him.

He wouldn't hire them again, though. Perhaps he should have done it himself to start with. Rumiko and Yua would probably even now be filling the girls' ears with every reason why they should run away from him on sight.

A heartfelt sigh slipped through his lips. He really should have made more of an effort to connect with them. He knew why he hadn't – he'd no more wanted them involved in this than their mothers did. If he could have found a way to break the bindings around Darkdramon-sama on his own, then he would have done it.

But the rules of the binding as he understood them were clear. There were requirements that he didn't possess – there were the _keys_, each bonded to one of his daughters.

He glanced to his hands. The backs were covered with the thin white lines of scars from Darkdramon-sama. But on both palms there were the marks of the keys. He'd tried to touch them once before – before his children had been born. The keys did not want to be touched by him and made their displeasure plain.

_I should have tried to keep them both._ He'd known Darkdramon-sama since before they'd been born. He could have fought to retain custody. It wouldn't have been easy, but maybe possible. With enough money – and his master _had/i made certain that he'd have all the funds that he'd ever need to do what he needed to do._

Exactly how Darkdramon-sama pulled that off he didn't know. But whenever he needed money, he found it in his account and he'd even checked to see where it came from. All he could find were anonymous donations.

He'd spent more than enough time trying to find ways that weren't those keys to break the bindings. He'd studied occult methods and religions from all over the world, and all that studying took up so long. To add in the time that Darkdramon-sama insisted that he spend learning to be a good slave…

He knew the reasons on that, though. Darkdramon-sama was _bored_. He could only reach a tiny pocket universe whenever he wasn't in the place defined by the circle. He himself had never been in that pocket universe. But from what few words his master dropped, there wasn't much there regardless.

He took a long and deep breath, doing his best to put his thoughts together. He needed the girls – he wouldn't be able to accomplish his task without them. He'd simply have to do what he hadn't wanted to do before.

It took very little time to gather what he needed. Most of it would be used in getting the girls. Then he headed to his car. He would preferred checking in with Darkdramon-sama but he knew far too well that if he did that, he'd end up bruised, battered, and beaten for daring to approach him without any substantial results. Far, _far_ better to arrive there with the girls already captive.

If that meant he needed to kill, then he was ready to do so. After all, the rest of the world would burn once they released Darkdramon. Any deaths before that would just be clearing the way.

* * *

Ruki hated to admit that she hadn't been as fully awake as she'd thought. She'd drifted back to sleep before they'd even made it to the hotel and stayed that way for another couple of hours.

When she finally dragged her eyes open again, it was to find Renamon's arms warmly locked around her and her mom and grandma seated in the living room, sipping tea and chatting with Chinatsu's mother.

Well, it was a lot better than what she _could_ have woken up to, and she carefully sat herself up, looking around. The other Tamers were there as well, a bit quieter but with snacks and drinks as well. Chinatsu stirred about the same time that she did, though PetitMeramon didn't stir at all.

"Ruki!" Her mom's eyes lit up at the sight of her moving around again. "How are you feeling?"

Ruki rubbed her eyes and glanced behind her; Renamon's eyes turned softly towards her. That made everything a lot better still in her opinion.

"Really annoyed," she reported, shifting up until she could be fairly said to be sitting up. "I feel like punching whoever did that."

Yukimura-san sighed. "You probably can, because I wouldn't be surprised if he shows up. If he's gone that far, then he'll go father."

A plethora of confused glances, most from the Tamers, raced around the room. Ruki was the one who asked the question they all wanted to. "Who?"

"Your father. Makino Takumi." Rumiko was the one who answered. Ruki leaned over, spying a small box on her mom's lap. She'd never seen it before, but a part of her tingled at the sight of it.

Rumiko offered up a small smile. It didn't look all that happy, though, no matter how hard she tried. "I never told you a lot about him, did I?"

"No." Ruki's fingers dug into the chair she found herself in. A soft noise alerted her that Chinatsu was waking up as well. All to the good; if they were going to hear about their father, better that they both heard it. "What's going on?"

Before any answers came, Chinatsu opened her eyes, blinked, and stared. "Mom?"

"Here, I have some tea for you," Yua said, pouring a cup and offering it to them. Ruki vaguely remembered when they'd first arrived; she'd had the tea ready when they got there. She'd fallen back into sleep before she'd really had the chance to taste it before. Now she accepted a cup as well, which turned out to be some of the best tea she'd ever had.

No one said anything else about what they'd almost started discussing, not until everyone had a good hot cup of tea inside of them and settled into a tighter circle together. Yua and Rumiko exchanged quick glances, then Rumiko started.

"You know about how we met and married and had you. I was too young – getting married then wasn't the best idea I've ever had. I don't regret it – I have _you_. But that's not the point. Takumi – he wasn't what I thought he was then. He vanished on occasion. He always had. I didn't think anything of it, because he told me that it involved his job. I didn't ask much about that. He did bring in a very good paycheck." Her fingers rested on the box. "But then I found out what he really was doing."

Ruki leaned forward, eyes narrowed. She'd never caught so much of a hint of that on those few times she'd visited with him. He'd never spoken of his job or why he and her mother divorced. He really hardly talked about anything, letting her carry what conversations they had.

She'd never been good at it then. She wasn't good at it now. But when she looked back, she could see that while she'd enjoyed those moments, she'd never enjoyed _him_.

"He works for a creature – I don't even know what it is or if it had a name. As soon as I saw it, I got out of there as fast as I could." Rumiko shuddered, her eyes closed. "He has a private home in the mountains and that's where it is. It's sealed there somehow. I don't know how."

Before she'd met Renamon, Ruki wouldn't have believed a word of what she said. It would have been so far out of her experience that it couldn't be believed. But hearing this, her jaw clenched and she wanted to charge right there to stop whatever it was from doing whatever it had in mind.

"It could be a demon. I've heard of stranger things," Yua offered. "I saw it too, before Chinatsu was born." She stared down into her cup of tea. "That was also why I divorced him. I wanted nothing to do with whatever monstrosity he had planned." The side of her mouth quirked. "I tried to report it to the police. I should have known better."

Seiko patted her on the shoulder. "They thought it was nothing but a pregnant woman's hormonal reaction to something innocuous, didn't they?"

"Exactly. I don't think they ever tried to check into it. If they did, nothing happened. But he didn't argue with the divorce. It was almost as if he expected it."

Rumiko tapped the box. "I think he did. Because he sent me – he sent _us_ \- these."

Chinatsu leaned forward. "What is that?" Her bracelet gleamed in the lamplight as she reached to set her cup down. PetitMeramon twitched as she did and she turned her attention there.

"This is something that he wanted me to give to you, Ruki," Rumiko said. "I refused. I've refused all this time."

"Which is probably why he gave it to you directly," Yua said to her daughter. Chinatsu blinked, then stared down at the bracelet on her arm. "That's right."

Rumiko opened the box and held it out towards Ruki. Inside there was a bracelet the exact copy of the one Chinatsu wore, a slender hoop of silver with a charm hanging from it. Ruki hadn't taken a good look at the charm but now she could see it was the infinity symbol. She started to reach for it, but Rumiko pulled it back.

"I don't know why he wanted you both to have these, but after what I saw there, what he called that creature, and what I think he's had planned all this time, I don't want you to have it," Rumiko said. She glanced towards Yua and Chinatsu. "I'd feel better about all of this if you weren't wearing that, either."

Chinatsu stared down at the bracelet, a slowly growing expression of rage rising, until she wrenched it off and threw it to the floor. "If he's trying to hurt people, then I don't want it! I don't want him!"

Ruki nodded, leaning back. The bracelet whispered in ways she'd never heard before, but the warm feel of Renamon's embrace kept it far enough at bay. "We should destroy them."

"I tried," Rumiko said with another sigh. "I did everything I could think of and nothing happened. I think it got a little dusty once and that was it." She closed the box and put it away. "But I don't think you can be forced to wear it. He kept telling me to show it to you – to let you decide, he said."

Ruki pressed her lips together and shook her head. That wasn't at all what she wanted. Whatever sort of sealed creature her father was dealing with, she knew what her duty as a Digimon Tamer was. Even if this wasn't a Digimon – could any of them know that this creature existed and _not_ do something about it?

"What exactly was it that you saw?" Jenrya wanted to know, eyes bright and interested. "Maybe we'll recognize it."

"From what I remember, it's at least as tall as the room," Yua said, tilting her head back and closing her eyes. "It was a high ceiling, too. A lot taller than an ordinary human. Black and yellow armor all over. Claws and horns, too." She shuddered, fingers tightening on the arms of her chair. "I don't remember the face. But the wings – I remember those."

Ruki expected to hear that the wings were those of a dragon or a devil – she'd seen a lot of Digimon who had wings like that. But it was Rumiko who finished the description.

"Its wings are white," she said, "and almost as big as it is. I wanted to touch one the first time I saw it – I almost did. But then he pulled me back. Probably one of the few good things he's done."

Yua let out a laugh. "He didn't for me." She rolled up one sleeve and there ran a pale white scar up her left arm. "He did help me patch that up, though. Said that no one at the hospital would believe me."

One finger ran up the scar before she tugged her sleeve back down. "He was right. What could I have told them?" Her eyes were distant for a few moments before she offered to refill everyone's cup of tea. She didn't take one for herself this time once their cups were full, but sat back down and seemed to turn deep inwards.

Rumiko stared down at her tea. "I don't know why he thinks you can help with whatever he has in mind. I don't even know what he has in mind – if I can make a guess, then it's probably trying to release that thing. Nothing else makes any sense. But whether it's to release it to this world or some other world, I haven't any idea."

"Then we find out," Takato said, words simple and to the point. "It might not be _bad_. A lot of Digimon who look scary aren't, not really."

Ruki snorted. "You're sort of right. It might not be, but we should have something worked out for what we do if it _is_."

"Good idea," Jenrya agreed, Hirokazu nodding as well. "First, does it sound like any Digimon that we know about?"

Hirokazu tapped one finger on his leg. "Not that I can remember. What about you guys?"

One by one heads were shaken. That wasn't necessarily going to rule out that it wasn't a Digimon – one point they'd learned over the years was that not every Digimon had a card. Plenty of them did, but not all.

"Let's work on the theory that it isn't," Ruki suggested. "Besides, all that would do is give us a name and maybe a couple of attacks. We need to figure out what they _want_."

She stifled a yawn with the back of her head. Chinatsu kept on stroking PetitMeramon, who hadn't woken up all the way yet himself, just making a few sleepy noises and nothing more. Her eyes kept trying to close and she dragged them back open over and over.

_Something's not right._ The harder she tried to think about it the less she actually could. Everyone else kept on talking, though they didn't seem to make much sense as it went along. When Ruki pulled her thoughts together enough to listen more, she heard Jenrya going on about some of the monsters he'd learned about, none of which seemed relevant to the situation.

Normally she would have simply told him to get his head back in the game. Now she couldn't seem to drag the words out of her mouth. She yawned again, unable to stop herself this time, and slowly dragged her head around to stare at Renamon.

Whose head drooped against her, sleeping as deeply as she ever had. Ruki thought that she'd already shaken off whatever weird drug had been in that dart, but Renamon just wasn't moving, save or the quiet huffs of her breath.

Something closed around her wrist and she managed to pull her head around enough to see Yua standing before her. The box with the bracelet lay on the floor at her feet and the bracelet was now wrapped around her wrist. She stared up at Yua, who smiled back down at her.

The smile was a lot more unhinged than anything Ruki could remember seeing. Her first desire was to get up and out of there, kicking the others until they came along. Only she couldn't get her body to move, which Yua seemed perfectly aware of.

"Go to sleep," Yua whispered. "Everything will make sense when you wake up again. I promise you."

Ruki really, _really_ didn't want to do that. But her eyes shifted from one person to another and no one seemed awake at all. She did her best to move, but her best wasn't good enough, not this time.

She really wasn't certain of when she actually fell asleep again. Only that it happened and the last thing she saw was the very satisfied expression of Yukimura Yua as she settled back down in her chair and watched them all.

* * *

Makino Takumi considered where they were most likely to be. There were more options than he cared to think about – Rumiko's home was the most likely place, given that it would be home ground for the largest number of people. But the hotel that Yua and Chinatsu were staying at also was the closest to where the girls had been.

He tried both, Rumiko's place first. There were a few lights but not enough for him to be certain if anyone was actually there. So he headed over to the hotel.

The whole time the back of his neck prickled. He knew what that meant – his master wanted his attention. Under most circumstances that would mean that he raced back home as fast as he could and groveled until his master chose to tell him what he was wanted for. But he was so close to bringing the girls that he wanted that done first.

When he reached the hotel, there were plenty of lights everywhere – of course. There were people as well, though the vast majority of them ignored him as he made his way inside and headed to the front desk. He'd learned how to conceal his presence when he wanted to. He couldn't do it for very long and if he did something to draw a large amount of attention it wouldn't work – but for tasks like this, it was a scant breath above child's play to accomplish what he wanted.

"What room is Yukimura Yua in?" Takumi asked, leaning forward to catch the clerk's eyes with his own. She blinked a few times at him, her eyes glazing over as they met, then looked back to her computer.

"She's on the fifth floor, sir."

He considered for a moment. "Can you ring her there and ask if I can come up?" If he could get Yua to hear his voice, he thought he might be able to get her to let him in. She'd always been more susceptible to this than Rumiko had been.

"There's a list of people who are allowed in, sir. If you're not on it, I can't do that."

His eyes narrowed. "I'm her husband. Makino Takumi." It might not work. But he'd try it regardless. The clerk looked back, presumably at the list, then blinked.

"Yes, of course. Your name's right here." She nodded briefly as she told him the specific room number. "Have a good evening, sir."

Takumi blinked; he wasn't sure if he was really on the list or if his ability to overwhelm a mind worked better than he thought it had. But he could work that out later and headed to the elevator.

That sensation on the back of his head grew only stronger and he tried hard not to flinch. He wanted to focus on what he was doing, and wished a little that Darkdramon-sama could use a cell phone. At least then he'd be able to find out what he wanted without getting distracted from his current task.

He didn't really understand anything about what was going on until he tapped on the door, plausible lies on his lips and a deep hope that his ex-wives would believe them, and even better that the girls were there and he could get them to the mountain home in peace.

The door opened. Yua stood there. Her eyes were cold and impassive and on her lips there twisted a smile unlike anything that he'd ever seen in his life. Even he, who'd stared into the face of his master on more than one occasion, thought it looked as if she had no more ties to sanity than he did. Perhaps even fewer than he did.

"Come in, Takumi" she murmured, and as she spoke, the sensation that came from Darkdramon-sama faded away entirely. He did not stop the shudder that followed.

"He-" Takumi wasn't certain if he even knew how he'd finish that sentence. But he followed her in and she closed the door behind them.

"I know him too," she said, gesturing to an empty seat. Rumiko and Seiko were slumped over in two of the other seats, sleeping deeply, while Ruki and Chinatsu sat on a couch together, their partners near them, all sound asleep. So were some of the other children that he knew were Digimon Tamers. But his gaze fell first on Ruki's wrist, where the bracelet he'd sent so long ago now rested.

"What did you do?" Takumi stared at her directly. "And why did you do it?"

"They're asleep. That's all. I gave them tea laced with a few sleeping pills. They never suspected a thing." That same smile hovered over her lips. "We can take them to Darkdramon-sama before they wake up."

Takumi wasn't going to argue that at all. He knew it was what the Master – their Master – wanted. "But why?" He wanted details before he did anything else more than sitting down.

"Since the moment he touched me, I've been his." Yua rested one hand on her arm, where he knew the scar hid beneath her blouse. "He told me that I was to stay quiet – to not even think about him until he wished otherwise. But that is why I ensured that Chinatsu wears the bracelet, why I put it on Ruki." She smiled softly. "And why I brought us here in the first place."

Takumi couldn't help but smile as well. "And now what?"

"Now we take them to Darkdramon-sama and release him." Her eyes flicked over to the others. "I'll have someone else take care of _them_. They're of no use to him and could be irritating if they're allowed to wake up again."

He'd been drawn to both Yua and Rumiko for reasons that he'd never bothered to look deeply into. He knew a few – they were both attractive and intelligent in different ways. But now he saw a part of Yua that he'd never even dreamed existed before. He started to lean towards her, only for her to turn away.

"This is all for him," Yua said flatly. "When he's released, I want nothing more to do with _you_."

Oh. Well. He'd really not expected anything less, though now he wondered if he'd ever hoped for more. It had been quite a while since he'd really interacted with another human being.

But even as she spoke, he could feel that flicker of awareness in the very back of his mind. Yua turned back to him. "Darkdramon-sama calls."

"You're right," he agreed. "You call someone to come take care of them. I'll get the girls down to the car. We can be in front of him before morning." It wasn't even midnight yet, though it felt so much later.

Yua agreed, going to pick up her phone, and he picked up Ruki, heading out of the room. For once, everything was going his way.

Even better, it was going Darkdramon-sama's way.

* * *

**To Be Continued**

**Notes:** In all fairness, I didn't know about Yua belonging to Darkdramon until this morning.


	6. Chapter 6

**Series:** After Tamers||**Story:** Chains of Blood  
**Characters:** Ruki, Renamon, OC(s)||**Ship:** Ruki x Renamon  
**Chapters:** 6-9||**Words:** 4,819||**Total Words:** 25,054  
**Genre:** Family||**Rated:** G  
**Challenges:** Diversity Writing Challenge, Digimon Tamers, L18, 3-5 fics; Hat Challenge: Makino Ruki, Sibling AU, Diablous ex Machina; Completionist Big Bang; Word Set Boot Camp, #35, 38,724; Chapter Set Boot Camp, #7, 9 chapters; Include The Word, #8, famous; Novella Masterclass, Tamers, #1, Canon Goodness; What-if: What if Ruki had a sibling or half-sibling?; Valentine's Day to White Day 2016, day #22, write about siblinghood  
**Notes:** This chapter contains successful (for a time) holding of characters captive and hints of what is to come.  
**Summary:** It's winter. A lot of people get gifts in winter. Ruki didn't expect her gift to be the fact she has a half-sister, let alone everything else that's going to happen.

* * *

Juri stared at her phone, chewing at her lip. She didn't like not getting an answer. Takato _always_ answered her, no matter what. He might not answer her right away, or he might just send a text back, but he always did.

Only now he wasn't, and that sent threads of worry crawling up her spine. She didn't want to try again, not so soon. He could be in some kind of a fight. That might slow him down.

"Any luck?" Ryou asked from where he lounged on one of the sofas. No one had expected him to show up, but he had a habit of doing that whenever it struck his fancy. Juri suspected he did it just to annoy Ruki at least a third of the time.

She shook her head. "I want to go check on them, but I'm not sure of where they're at right now." She set her phone down and tried to figure out what to do. Alice called them, reporting that Ruki and her sister were in some kind of trouble, so all the others had gone off to deal with that. Even Ruki couldn't handle everything by herself.

And now, nothing at all. Nothing that worried her more than anything else. Not even a quick call to let her know that they were all right and would get in touch later.

That really wasn't like Takato. It was her job to keep tabs on everyone, and he always helped her do her job.

Ryou leaned forward. "Where did you say they were going? I can drop by there and check things out."

Something about the way that he said that brought her firmly to her feet. "We can go." She had never – would never – be as good at the card game as Ruki or Ryou was, but she kept a deck for emergencies. On those few times when she got caught up in a battle, she'd often found herself in possession of cards that could help the others.

She wasn't useless, even now, she told herself more than once.

Ryou only grinned at her. "All right. Then where we _we_ going?"

She checked what information she had. The last place she was certain of was the hotel where Chinatsu and her mother were staying and she told Ryou that. "Even if they're not there, maybe someone saw them."

Ryou nodded and headed outside. Cyberdramon rested outside; there was room enough inside for him, since the building had been built to encompass as many large Digimon as possible, but he'd always preferred staying out there. As soon as Ryou strode up, he raised his head, making a questioning sound.

"We're going looking for our friends," Ryou told him. "Feeling up to it?"

"Always," Cyberdramon growled. He eyed Juri for a few moments before his attention flickered back to Ryou, head tilted in a silent question. His partner nodded and Cyberdramon scooped each of them up in one arm, taking off. "Where?"

Juri looked around, trying to focus on where they were and where they wanted to be, as opposed to the fact they were already a fair distance above the ground. "That way!"

Cyberdramon spread his wings and shot that way so fast that Juri couldn't even see what was beneath them except as a swoosh of light and color. She tucked her head down and closed her eyes, wishing she had Takato's goggles right now. She could feel Ryou not that far away from her and a quick peek showed that he had his head in the wind, grinning widely. _He's going to get bugs in his teeth,_ she thought before she closed her eyes again. That was Ryou's problem if he did. He should know better by now.

"All right, are we there?" Ryou asked. Juri felt Cyberdramon go downward and set them both on the ground. She dragged her eyes open and looked around.

"That's it," she said, checking out the large hotel rising above them. She considered for a few moments. "I'm not sure which room is theirs, though."

As soon as she said that she could feel Cyberdramon's muscles bunching a gain, and Ryou quickly rested a hand on his partner.

"Not yet. We don't need to scare people."

Digimon were a lot more common than they had been five years earlier, but someone like Cyberdramon could still terrify people if they weren't expecting someone like him. Juri stared at the hotel, thinking, then pulled her phone out and dialed Takato's number again.

And once again, got nothing.

* * *

Renamon very seldom had anything that resembled a headache. Those did happen to Digimon, but she'd never had one herself. She'd seen Ruki and other humans suffering from it – usually from an excess of alcohol – but this was her first time experiencing it herself.

She would not recommend it to anyone else. Ever.

She tried to stretch, trying to put together what happened. They'd been returning to Chinatsu's hotel from the headquarters. Something happened then. She remembered a vague sense of having been hit by something, but that didn't quite seem to account for the combination of floatiness and mental sludge dragging down her every thought and movement.

Had they been somewhere else? Yes. She recalled waking up in the Yukimuras' rented room, accepting a cup of tea that would, they'd been told, help her wake up all the way. Everyone had one. Yukimura-san made very good tea, it seemed.

But she hadn't woken up. She'd drifted back to sleep, even deeper than before, and now she began to take a slow look around herself.

Wherever they were, it was moving. It took a brief time for her to grasp that, but it sank in. She tried to move again and this time realized what had slipped her attention before – someone bound her in thick chains of some kind.

She dragged her eyes open, fighting hard to keep them that way and not succeeding very well. Not at first; it took her more time to get her thoughts put into some sort of order. Once she could get a better look around, what she saw sent enough rage through her that she found herself surprised she didn't snap the chains right then and there.

Finding out a tight rope bound her muzzle, keeping her from speaking, only served to stoke her rage higher. She struggled against the bonds, snarling, throwing herself against one of the others – Guilmon, she suspected, given the scales.

The harder she fought her bonds, the more her head cleared, but she still couldn't make any headway. About the only point that she thought could improve the situation was that the others started to stir and wake up. What made it all worse was that while she could scent each one of the others there – Jenrya, Hirokazu, Takato, Kenta, Guilmon, MarineAngemon, Terriermon, Guardromon, and PetitMeramon – there wasn't a trace of either Ruki or Chinatsu there.

That didn't bode well at all. As her eyes adjusted to the darkness, she could tell that they were all tied in some fashion or other. PetitMeramon had been set into a small cage – maybe they didn't have enough suitable ropes or chains for a creature that was effectively sentient fire – but everyone had been bound. One by one they were waking up, and none of them looked any happier than Renamon was over the situation.

She wriggled herself into a position where she could see what was around her. It looked like the back of a truck of some kind. Large enough for everyone, as long as they didn't want too much personal space, and seemed to be gong along at a good pace. She couldn't hear anything from outside no matter how hard she listened, so the soundproofing was far better than she would have expected.

All of them wriggled and squirmed against one another in futile attempts to get out of their bonds. Renamon could catch the faint scents of humans, but they weren't anyone that she recognized. Had whoever attacked them the first time made a second successful attempt, perhaps blackmailing Chinatsu's mother?

She'd figure that one out later. She racked her brain for a few moments, her gaze resting on PetitMeramon's cage. He was just starting to stir up, eyes opening, and the way he looked around conveyed so much confusion.

Then a spark lit in her mind. Perhaps not being able to tie up sentient fire would be the way they could get out of there!

Renamon jerked, straining to at least get PetitMeramon's name post the ties on her muzzle. He blinked a few times, focusing on her, before he perked up. "Oh! I think I get it!"

He focused his attention on the bars in front of him. Now that she saw it better, it wasn't so much a cage as it was a carrier of some kind – probably a repurposed cat carrier. Very useful for transporting a small Digimon.

Perhaps not so much for keeping one that didn't want to be kept.

PetitMeramon stretched out his hands and wrapped them around the bars of the little door. All the information on PetitMeramon said that their flames didn't burn as hot as their potential higher evolutions could. Renamon doubted that most of those PetitMeramon hadn't ever been locked up like this before.

"Fireball!"

It didn't instantly melt the bars. But PetitMeramon concentrated and blew another one and then another, adding a few Flame Shots to help the process along. The others watched, each holding their breath in one way or another, until Takato nudged Guilmon, and his partner rolled over until he got to PetitMeramon's cage. His muzzle was as tied as Renamon's was, but whoever tied them up didn't account for his tail.

Guilmon wrapped his tail around the bending bars and lunged forward with every ounce of his strength. When Takato created Guilmon, he'd made sure his future partner would be strong. Years of training and battles only made that better. The bars shattered and PetitMeramon tumbled outwards, floating up a breath later.

"Okay! What's going on?" He blinked as he realized no one was going to answer him, then darted over to Renamon. He stared at the rope around her muzzle before he settled down on it. He didn't need to ignite anything. Just his presence got the rope burning and in a few minutes he brushed the remnants away and Renamon took a deep breath.

"Thank you," she told him. "Could you do that for the others?" She wasn't certain if he could break or melt the chains – even Guilmon might not be able to do that – but they could at least talk to each other.

"Okay! Where's Chinatsu?" He darted from one of them to the other, burning through ropes on the Digimon and using his tiny hands to get rid of gags on the humans. "And where's Ruki?"

"That I don't know," Renamon said. "But I intend to find out."

Hirokazu made a face as he stared at how they were restrained. "Guardromon? Think you can help?"

His partner stared thoughtfully at the chains. His own were bound very tightly on him. "Yes, I think I can." He couldn't move very fast; his size worked against him there. But he didn't need to haul himself up as Hirokazu wriggled around so his chains were as close to Guardromon as he could manage.

His eyes glowed a deep scarlet red, energy darting outward to slice at the chains, shattering them. Hirokazu shook away the remains, rubbed his arms, and started working on Guardromon's chains for a few moments before giving up.

"You're going to have to get someone else to get these. I can't," he grumbled. Guardromon only nodded before he turned to the others.

"Who would like to be next?" He asked in his eternal politeness.

* * *

It had been quite a while since Takumi and Yua rode together. It almost felt like it had during that brief time they'd been married, when they'd gone on trips together. Only now, Takumi knew he could tell her anything and he thought she already knew everything.

He glanced to the seat behind them. Ruki and Chinatsu were both there, both awake, but both tied up and gagged. The way Ruki looked at him gave him the feeling if she had her hands around his throat, she wouldn't hesitate to choke him.

Takumi couldn't help but be a little proud of his fierce warrior daughter. He wasn't sure of what Darkdramon-sama had in mind for her after she'd freed him, but he knew she would be useful. He would never expect her to be otherwise.

Chinatsu just stared at them both over her gag, her eyes large and wet with tears. From what he could see of her face, she was terrified and angry and confused all at once.

He would explain everything to both of them once they were in front of Darkdramon-sama. Even better, _he_ would explain matters to them. As he'd made Yua into his, he would make Ruki and Chinatsu, either before or after he achieved his freedom.

Ruki caught his gaze with her own, then pointedly turned away to stare out the window. If she could have, he didn't doubt for a second that would have thrown herself out and taken the risk of dying, just to get away from him. Perhaps only two things kept her in there – they would still have Chinatsu and he'd had the two back doors modified so they couldn't be opened from the inside.

"How much longer?" Yua asked, barely glancing towards him as she spoke. He checked the time and where they were.

"Another hour and a half, I think. Maybe a bit more." He checked the fuel gauge; had he remembered to fill it up before starting? "We're going to have to stop somewhere."

No. No, he hadn't. At least the gas stations they would pass would either be unmanned or they could park where no one would see the girls. He'd picked his route out for this very reason.

Yua tilted her head forward, her lips turning down into a mild frown as she did. "We should get some water for them. They're going to need it once we get there."

That was something he hadn't thought about. But he nodded. "You can get that."

In some very twisted way, it was so much as if they were having a family trip. Granted, the average family trip didn't include two tied up teenagers. At least not that he'd ever seen. It might have even been better if they'd had Rumiko along with them.

The sensation of Darkdramon-sama's awareness in the back of their minds grew stronger the closer that they came to him. He was aware of them and that they came with the girls. He wasn't giving any orders at the moment, just waiting for them to get there. Takumi found that a little refreshing. He'd lived so much of his life with Darkdramon-sama telling him what to do and when to do it.

Truth to tell, he wasn't certain if he even knew how to do things without Darkdramon-sama telling him. He doubted if he'd ever have to do that – even after his master had been freed, there would be work for him – but just the thought he might not have that guiding hand and voice sent chills all through him.

He pressed his lips together and stared towards the road unfolding before them. The closest gas station where they could also get drinks was a fair distance away and the more progress they made before having to stop the better.

* * *

Cyberdramon sniffed the air, head turning this way and that. His nostrils flared and his eyes narrowed. He could track almost as well as Renamon could – he was, after all, a hunter – but in a human city like this, it wasn't nearly as easy as it was in the Digital World.

That didn't mean he couldn't do it, of course. He turned towards Ryou. "That way. I can smell Digimon."

It might not have been their friends. But he could definitely catch a whiff of Renamon's distinctive fox-like fragrance, as well as Guardromon's oil-based aroma and the faint whisper of holy magic that was MarineAngemon. There were other aromas caught up in that as well, mostly that of humans, but Digimon in the human world were easily trackable – if he could get hold of their scent in the first place.

Ryou nodded. "Then let's follow them." He turned to Juri. "See if you can get hold of Impmon. If they're not answering, then something's probably keeping them from answering and we're going to need all the help we can get."

Cyberdramon snorted at that; Impmon could evolve more or less independently these days, but he didn't think there was anything that Beelzebumon could do that _he_ couldn't do.

Ryou's hand rested on his briefly. His Tamer could read his moods quite easily after all the time that they'd spent together. "We'll need to cover as much ground as we can. And if there is going to be a fight, we don't want to keep it all to ourselves, do we?"

Technically Cyberdramon knew the answer was 'no'. But the answer that he wanted to give was 'yes'. So he just snorted again and waited for Ryou to be ready to go.

They took off a few minutes later, Juri relaying what they knew to Impmon and his twin Tamers. They would meet up somewhere in the middle and if they hadn't found the others by then, they would split up in order to do so.

Cyberdramon wanted there to be a fight. He could never think of anything or anyone that he didn't want to fight, even if it was just a mild spar to see who was the more skilled combatant. But there were always times when he wanted to fight just to see who could put the other down the fastest – and to keep the world from being destroyed. Those were the fights that he loved the best and his warrior's soul told him that this would be happening all too soon.

* * *

"That's done," Hirokazu declared in pride as Guilmon ripped the chains off of Guardromon. "So now what?"

Jenrya crossed his arms over his chest and stared at the back of the van as it continued to carry them onward. "Now we get out of here. Who wants the honors?"

Renamon knew that she couldn't evolve without Ruki there. She also did not care. No one would keep her from her partner, short of actually killing her. She could not even be certain if that would do it.

She stalked forward and struck at the door with both feet, focusing all of her strength there for one blow after the other. Behind her she could hear them murmuring, something about not getting on her bad side.

They had nothing to fear. Those who tried to hurt Ruki had _everything_ to fear.

It took five strong blows before the back of the van flew off the hinges and skittered down the road they were driving on. They were still in the city, she realized, seeing the tall buildings all around them, but no part of it that she remembered ever seeing. So possibly not Shinjuku. That was fine. There wasn't anywhere in the world they could take Ruki that she couldn't find her.

The van slammed to a stop without warning. Renamon stumbled forward, almost losing her balance, then twisted around and leaped to the top of the van, stalking. Now she could see three humans in the front, arguing with one another. Here, the words came crystal clear.

"You took the job. That means you're going to be the one who checks on that. They're a bunch of kids and talking animals – one's a walking _toaster_!" Oh, Guardromon would not like that. "We're grown men. What can they do?"

Renamon's expression would have thrilled Ruki. She leaped forward and landed on the front of the van, one fist crashing through the windshield and wrapping around the throat of the one behind the wheel. His eyes rounded and his hands batted at hers to no avail.

"Where's Ruki?" She wrinkled her lips back to show her teeth. She'd never wanted to hurt a human before. If this one answered her the way she wanted to be, then she wouldn't do it now.

If he didn't – then – well, she'd do what she needed to do.

The human stared at her, still batting at her and not getting anywhere. The other two froze, though perhaps not so much because of her as because Jenrya wrenched the door open and Guilmon stood there with a lot of sharp teeth and fire in his mouth, Guardromon with eyes glowing red, and Terriermon with ears ready to smack sense into someone if need called. The rest of the group stood behind the Digimon, no one, not even MarineAngemon, looking in the slightest happy about this.

She returned her gaze to the human she held. "Answer me, human. Where is Ruki?"

The human struggled to speak, drawing in one breath but not able to force the sounds out twice before he finally spat out a word. "Dunno!"

Her eyes narrowed and her grip tightened. "You don't know?" That was _not_ what she wanted to hear.

"She didn't tell us!" One of the other two squeaked. "We were just supposed to take you somewhere and leave you there!"

Renamon's fingers tightened, the tips of her claws scraping against the skin. Her captive's eyes turned round and wide with fear. "Where?"

"Just a warehouse! You could have gotten out by morning!" The talkative one declared. "You'd be fine! Really! We can take you back wherever you want o go! Promise! Just – just-"

"Just don't kill us," the one Renamon held begged. "Please, don't kill us. I have a family-"

Renamon wasn't certain if she cared right now. He'd been complicit in taking one of those few people she considered family – the love of her life – away from her. But she dropped him and rose to her feet, staring down at him disdainfully. She'd not soil her claws with his kind of foul blood.

"Find another line of work," Takato suggested. "Whoever you tangle with next might not be as nice as we are."

Renamon gave them not one more look. Instead, she turned to the others. "Let's go."

In a single breath, those who needed to evolve to carry their partners did so, and left the shattered van behind.

* * *

Darkdramon paced in his prison, his wings spread and his tail lashing just on the edges of the marked territory he could touch. Soon, oh so very soon, he would finally be out of here. He could feel the approach of those who could release him in every ounce of himself.

When he could get out of here, he would be free to be himself again – no longer bound into this form. He found it interesting, of course, and he looked forward to being able to test the limits to the fullest. But it wasn't his form – Darkdramon wasn't even his true name – he'd never reveal that to a _human_.

His true name couldn't even be pronounced by human lips. Not without the risk of shattering their poor simple lungs. Perhaps whoever summoned him realized that; that might have been one of the reasons they fled from here. He might not know who they were, but he knew the scent of their magic, and in this world, magic was not so common that he would not be able to find them.

It might take a very long time, but he would most certainly find them. His mortal slaves would be able to accomplish the task. He could influence enough of the world to ensure that they had the wealth they needed to do so and he could give them a rough sensation of which way they needed to go. He would be tempted to run the fool down himself.

_I can enjoy myself with him when they bring him back,_ he reminded himself. Until then, he had better matters to take care of – such as the absolute demolition and crushing of this world.

His human pawn told him more than once of those Digimon and the Tamers. He'd gleaned what information he could of their existence as well. While he could not step beyond the boundaries in physical form, his power could reach outward, and he'd lured a few creatures in here, one or two of those small creatures that were neither of this world nor his. He'd also attracted a few humans – the deep months of winter were good for that. Humans on vacations who found themselves caught unawares by foul weather would be pleased to see a comfortable home, and all they needed to do was enter here in order for him to seize their minds.

There was no fear at all in him of those 'Digimon'. They could do nothing to harm him and those that he'd lured were now his obedient servants. They stayed out of sight. Not even Makino Takumi knew of their existence. He did not need to know everything.

His eyes fell to the tiny crack that he'd carved in between this world and theirs. He _had_ needed to sacrifice a few of those in order to make it. A couple of Digimon. A couple of humans. Once he had access again to all of his power, he could do so much more.

Digimon, like humans, existed to serve, and they would all serve him if they wished to continue to exist.

* * *

Impmon's first instinct when he heard about the others being mysteriously missing was to make sure Ai and Makoto knew to stay at home and not to leave it no matter what. They were still kids – only nine years old. He did not want anything to happen to them.

Once he was sure about them staying safe, he leaped into action, darting along the wires and over rooftops, searching for the faintest sign of any of the others. He could move pretty fast and if anyone got in his way, he'd just evolve to Beelzebumon and stomp it. It wouldn't be the first time. He really doubted that it would be the last.

But it didn't matter how easily he would be able to stomp on whoever had taken his friends when he couldn't find them no matter how hard he searched. He couldn't even get in touch with Juri or Ryou right now. He'd never thought about getting a cell phone for himself, but maybe that wouldn't be such a bad idea if they were going to split up like this.

One good point about all of chis – it was late. Not midnight but getting up on there, which meant there weren't many people out and even fewer cars. He remembered quite vividly what Juri said.

"The last I heard from them, Alice-san said that Ruki and her sister had been attacked by strangers and the others were going to help them. We're at the hotel and there's not a sign of them. I even called Ruki's mom to see if they were there – well, I tried. I didn't get an answer there either. No one's answering and they should be. Cyberdramon says that he smells them, so we're going to try tracking them like that."

So they would search from one way and Impmon sought the other and once they found them – well, that was when the fun began.

Impmon wasn't certain of how long he'd searched before a call hailed him and he saw Cyberdramon heading towards him with Ryou and Juri. He bounced towards them, raising one claw in greeting.

"No sign of them?" He knew the answer even before he asked. This was looking worse and worse by the second. Why would someone want to kidnap Digimon Tamers?

There were probably a lot of reasons. He just couldn't guess at what they were and that worried him more than he'd ever want to admit to anyone, let alone these guys.

Cyberdramon turned his head down a road. "The scent is this way." Without another word they started there. They'd hardly gone far before the search itself stuttered to an unexpected halt. Takato, Hirokazu, Kenta, Jenrya, and Alice – along with their partners and that new guy PetitMeramon – trudged towards them, tired and not happy.

Perhaps worst of all, Renamon strode at the front, and Impmon knew that he'd never seen her that upset before. There wasn't a sign of Ruki anywhere, nor of the girl who hung out with PetitMeramon.

Not a single word needed to be spoken for Impmon to know the night had just begun.

* * *

**To Be Continued**

**Notes:** As of August 5, 2020, this story is on indefinite hiatus. I intended to restart in September, but YGO GX Month came up and it gave me ideas. So, once that's taken care of, I'll return to my WIPs.


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